Daisaku Ikeda Quotes

#1. People who cease to grow can't inspire others. Leadership begins with challenging
oneself. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#2. One cannot, without reflection, make some into bearers of goodness and others into miscreants, judging them by relative positive or negative criteria. These, like everything else, change according to historical circumstances, the character of a society, the time and subjective points of view. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#3. Sometimes we complain without thinking much of it, but the frightening thing about complaining is that every time we do, a cloud descends over our heart, and our hope, appreciation and joy gradually wane. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#4. Bravely overcoming one small fear gives you the courage to take on the next. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#5. Where there is an absence of international political leadership, civil society should step in to fill the gap, providing the energy and vision needed to move the world in a new and better direction. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#6. The differences between people need not act as barriers that wound, harm and drive us apart. Rather, these very differences among cultures and civilizations should be valued as manifestations of the richness of our shared creativity. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#7. Divorced from the cosmos, from nature, from society and from each other, we have become fractured and fragmented. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#8. Since ancient times, people from throughout Asia have brought to Japan their talents, knowledge and energy, helping to lay the basis for Japan's existence as a country. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#9. It is senseless to blame others or your environment for your miseries. Change begins from the moment you muster the courage to act. When you change, the environment will change. The power to change the world is found nowhere but within our own life. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#10. I believe that a culture of peace must be the essential foundation of our efforts for peace. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#11. It is only through such real-life daily struggles and challenges that a genuine sensitivity to human rights can be inculcated. This is a truth that is not limited to school education: it applies to all of us. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#12. A truly beautiful person is one who is good at discovering beauty. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#13. We have both a weak self and a strong self; the two are completely different. If we allow our weak side to dominate, we will be defeated. The thought ,"I am still young and have a lot of time, so I can relax and take life easy" is a function of our own weakness. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#14. Strength is itself victory. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#15. The crucial thing is to arouse the awareness that as a matter of human conscience we can never permit the people of any country to fall victim to nuclear weapons, and for each individual to express their refusal to continue living in the shadow of the threat they pose. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#16. Youthfulness is not determined by age. It is determined by one's life force. One who possesses hope is forever young. One who continually advances is forever beautiful.
- Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#17. A moment's encounter can decide the direction of one's entire life - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#18. Hopes, dreams, faith and a sense of mission enable us to open up our lives. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#19. Within the heart of every person exists the flame of wisdom that transforms all suffering into kindling for the fire of creative energy. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#20. If you lose today, win tomorrow. In this never-ending spirit of challenge is found the heart of a victor. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#21. The economy is after all driven by people. No matter how dire the situation may be, as long as people are firm, a turnaround, revival and progress can be possible. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#22. A great revolution in just one single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#23. When one takes action for others, one's own suffering is transformed into the energy that can keep one moving forward; a light of hope illuminating a new tomorrow for oneself and others is kindled. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#24. The power of art can break the shackles that bind and divide human beings. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#25. Let us give something to each person we meet: joy, courage, hope, assurance, or philosophy, wisdom, a vision for the future. Let us always give something. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#26. But I think we need to remember that democracy everywhere is by its nature incomplete, a work in progress. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#27. Those who always have a sense of appreciation and gratitude never reach an impasse in life. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#28. Buhhdism is wisdom. As long as we have wisdom, we can put all things to the best use, we can turn everything in the direction of happiness. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#29. Freedom doesn't mean the absence of all restrictions. It means possessing unshakable conviction in the face of any obstacle. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#30. The willingness to challenge hardships taps the power within human beings to transform even a place of tragedy into a stage for fulfilling one's mission. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#31. Genuine happiness can only be achieved when we transform our way of life from the unthinking pursuit of pleasure to one committed to enriching our inner lives, when we focus on 'being more' rather than simply having more. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#32. Ultimately, the only way to make good friends is to become a good friend yourself. Good people gather around other good people. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#33. What our world most requires now is the kind of education that foster love for humankind, that develops character-that provides an intellectual basis for realization of peace and empowers learners to contribute to and improve society. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#34. Let us join our efforts toward building the unshakable foundations for a culture of peace. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#35. Often the biggest obstacle in meeting life's challenges is actually our own fear of failure. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#36. Reality is harsh. It can be cruel and ugly. Yet no matter how much we grieve over our environment and circumstances nothing will change. What is important is not to be defeated, to forge ahead bravely. If we do this, a path will open before us. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#37. What matters is the value we've created in our lives, the people we've made happy and how much we've grown as people. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#38. If we look at the world with a love of life, the world will reveal its beauty to us. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#39. Faith is to fear nothing, to stand unswayed, the power to surmount any obstacle. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#40. Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#41. Likewise, education can direct people toward good or evil ends. When education is based on a fundamentally distorted worldview, the results are horrific. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#42. Even if things don't unfold the way you expected, don't be disheartened or give up. One who continues to advance will win in the end. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#43. Embrace your dreams and advance as far as they can take you. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#44. Genuine sincerity opens people's hearts, while manipulation causes them to close. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#45. Men and women who know the brutal reality of war, who know that war strips people of their very humanity, must unite in a new global partnership for peace. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#46. There are no greater treasures than the highest human qualities such as compassion, courage and hope. Not even tragic accident or disaster can destroy such treasures of the heart. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#47. Rather than turning away from the staggering scale and depth of misery caused by war, we must strive to develop our capacity to empathize and feel the sufferings of others. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#48. Courage and compassion are two sides of the same coin. Compassion without courage is not genuine. You may have a compassionate thought or impulse, but if you don't do or say anything, it's not real compassion. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#49. The determination to win is the better part of winning. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#50. It is impossible to build one's own happiness on the unhappiness of others. This perspective is at the heart of Buddhist teachings. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#51. If you become deadlocked,return to the prime point. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#52. Great art is created only through diligent and painstaking effort to perfect and polish oneself. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#53. Living here on Earth, we breathe the rhythms of a universe that extends infinitely above us. When resonant harmonies arise between this vast outer cosmos and the inner human cosmos, poetry is born. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#54. Rise to the challenges that life presents you. You can't develop genuine character and ability by sidestepping adversity and struggle. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#55. Only when we connect to nature, engaged with nature, are we truly alive and vigorous. To really be alive, one must be under the sun, the moon, the shining stars and surrounded by the beautiful greenery and pure waters of the natural world. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#56. No one should be left to suffer alone. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#57. By changing our inner state of mind, we can change any suffering or hardship into a source of joy, regarding it as a means for forging and developing our lives. To turn even sorrow into a source of creativity - this is the way of life of a Buddhist - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#58. You will pass through storms and heavy rains, and at times you will suffer defeat. The essence of the creative life, however, is not to give up in the face of defeat but to follow the rainbow that exists within your heart. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#59. Present effects are due to karmic causes from the past. However, future effects arise from the causes we make in the present. It is always the present that counts. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#60. When we care for others our own strength to live increases. When we help people expand their state of life, our lives also expand. Actions to benefit others are not separate from actions to benefit oneself. Our lives and the lives of others are ultimately inseparable. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#61. The idea of interdependence is central to Buddhism, which holds that all things come into being through the mutual interactions of various causes and conditions. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#62. The darker the night, the nearer the dawn. Victory in life is decided by that last concentrated burst of energy filled with the resolve to win. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#63. There's no need for us to be held back by the past or how things have been so far. The important thing is what seeds we are sowing now for the future. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#64. [Love that would] break open the hard shell of my lesser self. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#65. The moment you resolve to be victorious, every nerve and fiber in your being will immediately orient itself toward your success. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#66. A genuinely happy person is one who has rendered others happy. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#67. Music speaks directly to the heart. This response, this echo within the heart, is proof that human hearts can transcend the barriers of time and space and nationality. Exchanges in the field of culture can play an important role in enabling people to overcome mistrust and prejudice and build peace. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#68. Strength is Happiness. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#69. No matter what kind of difficult situation one may find oneself in, some opening, some opportunity to fight one's way out, can always be found. What's most important is to hold fast to Hope, to face the future with courage. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#70. Whatever your circumstances, whatever your past, the forces that determine your future are nowhere but within your own heart and mind. It is here that the star of your destiny shines. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#71. Ideal love is fostered only between two sincere, mature and independent people. Real love is not two people clinging to each other; it can only be fostered between two strong people secure in their individuality. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#72. The greatest tragedy in life is not to die, it is to live as if dead, to let the life within us wither. Toward what goal or achievement are we striving in life? This is the important question to ask ourselves. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#73. To be fearless no matter what happens-that is the root of true happiness. To move forward resolutely regardless of what lies in store-that is the spirit, the resolve, that leads to human victory. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#74. In the past, human society provided encouragement and opportunity for people to extend support to each other, especially in highly stressful situations. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#75. History is filled with tragic examples of wars that result from diplomatic impasse. Whether in our local communities or in international relations, the skillful use of our communicative capacities to negotiate and resolve differences is the first evidence of human wisdom. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#76. Dialogue starts from the courageous willingness to know and be known by others. It is the painstaking and persistent effort to remove all obstacles that obscure our common humanity. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#77. Before comparing yourself with others, win the battle with yourself. Strive to be better today than yesterday, and better tomorrow than today. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#78. Our hopes, desires and ambitions are powerful forces existing within us for the shaping of the future. They are the generating forces that create the future. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#79. Leadership that exploits and sacrifices young people on the altar of its goals is nothing more than raw, demonic power. Genuine leadership is found in ceaseless efforts to foster young people, to pave the way forward for them. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#80. In life when we feel we have reached a limit, that is when the true battle begins. Just when you despair and think it is impossible to go any further, will you become apathetic, or will you say it's not over and stand up with an unyielding spirit? The battle is decided by this single determination. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#81. Ultimately, all human activities have as their goal the realization of happiness. Why, then, have we ended up producing the opposite result? Could the underlying cause be our failure to correctly understand the true nature of happiness? - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#82. You must not for one moment give up the effort to build up new lives for yourself. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#83. Do something! Start something! As you make consistent efforts, you will begin to see your goals come into focus. You will discover your mission
the one only you can fulfill. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#84. It is natural for us, as human beings, to look forward. Our eyes naturally look ahead. In this sense, we are made for moving toward a goal. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#85. Japan learned from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that the tragedy wrought by nuclear weapons must never be repeated and that humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#86. It is crucial that we develop real awareness of ourselves as citizens of Earth, linked by mutual and indissoluble bonds. When we clearly recognize this reality and ground ourselves in it, we are compelled to take a strict accounting of our way of life. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#87. No one is born hating others. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#88. I have for some time urged that a nuclear abolition summit to mark the effective end of the nuclear era be convened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 70th anniversary of the bombings of those cities, with the participation of national leaders and representatives of global civil society. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#89. A person fully awakened to the jewel-like dignity of their own life is capable of truly respecting that same treasure in others. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#90. With love and patience, nothing is impossible. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#91. A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, can even enable a change in the destiny of all humankind. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#92. Hardships make us strong. Problems give birth to wisdom. Sorrows cultivate compassion. Those who have suffered the most will become the happiest. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#93. What may look like a small act of courage is courage nevertheless. The important thing is to be willing to take a step forward. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#94. While it is important to win, it's even more important to remain undefeated no matter what happens. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#95. Being sincere, dedicated and honest is the key. People of integrity triumph in the end. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#96. Hope is life's greatest treasure. If you have no hope, create some! - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#97. We are not merely passive pawns of historical forces; nor are we victims of the past. We can shape and direct history. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#98. I believe that we must maintain pride in the knowledge that the actions we take, based on our own decisions and choices as individuals, link directly to the magnificent challenge of transforming human history. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#99. It is important that we have the inner richness to be able to look up at the stars or the moon and compose a poem once in a while. When we open wide our minds and fix our gaze on the universe, we fix our gaze on our own life. - Author: Daisaku Ikeda

#100. A person who respects others is respected by others in return. Those who treat others with compassion and concern are protected and supported by others. Our environment is essentially a reflection of ourselves - Author: Daisaku Ikeda