Hanh's Quotes

#1. One of the books that has guided me in the last ten years of my life to help me to be that leader is the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh's Being Peace. He's a Vietnamese monk. He was nominated for a Peace Prize by Dr. Martin Luther King.

Sandra Cisneros

#2. Other people's actions are the result of their own pain and not the result of any intention to hurt you.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#3. According to the Buddha, life is available only in the here and now, the present moment. He said, "The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There's only one moment for you to live, and that is the present moment." If you miss the present moment, you miss your appointment with life.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#4. Understanding is love's other name.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#5. May our heart's garden of awakening bloom with hundreds of flowers.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#6. The essential discipline of following one's breath to nourish and maintain calm mindfulness, even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#7. It is easy to see the flaws of others, hard to see one's own. One exposes flaws of others, yet hides one's own flaws.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#8. Everything - including love, hate, and suffering - needs food to continue. If suffering continues, it's because we keep feeding our suffering.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#9. True love is a love without possessiveness. You love and still you are free, and the other person is also free. The kind of love that has no joy is not true love. If both parties cry every day, then that's not true love. There must be joy and freedom and understanding in love.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#10. In Asia, when people kiss each other they use the nose more than the mouth. Using the nose, we can recognize the person; it's so pleasant.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#11. When you walk, arrive with every step. That is walking meditation. There's nothing else to it.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#12. Compassion doesn't mean that you have to love that person who's so difficult. But if you stop and look deeper, you'll see that person's difficulties. If you can accept him, then you can love him.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#13. We are all mother's of the Buddha because we are all pregnant with the potential for awakening.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#14. We ourselves need love; it's not only society, the world outside, that needs love. But we can't expect that love to come from outside of us. We should ask the question whether we are capable of loving ourselves as well as others.

Nhat Hanh

#15. When we're inspired by the desire to practice and transform our suffering, the mind of the moment is very beautiful. Sometimes we call it the mind of love. It's because of love that we practice.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#16. When you are calm, when you are still, you see things as they truly are. You don't distort things. When you are not calm, it's easy to get confused and angry. All of us make a lot of mistakes and create a lot of suffering when we are not calm.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#17. It's like a mother, when the baby is crying, she picks up the baby and she holds the baby tenderly in her arms. Your pain, your anxiety is your baby. You have to take care of it. You have to go back to yourself, to recognize the suffering in you, embrace the suffering, and you get a relief.

Nhat Hanh

#18. Life is real; it's not a dream when mindfulness is there.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#19. When we give ourselves the chance to let go of all our tension, the body's natural capacity to heal itself can begin to work.

Nhat Hanh

#20. The suffering and the quarreling in a family don't begin with unkindness, they begin with one person's pain and stress.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#21. Mindfulness must be engaged. Once there is seeing, there must be acting. Otherwise, what's the use of seeing?

Thich Nhat Hanh

#22. According to the Buddha's teachings, the most basic condition for happiness is freedom. Here we do not mean political freedom, but freedom from the mental formations of anger, despair, jealousy, and delusion.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#23. When practiced to its fullest, mindful eating turns a simple meal into a spiritual experience, giving us a deep appreciation of all that went into the meal's creation as well a deep understanding of the relationship between the food on our table, our own health, and our planet's health.

Nhat Hanh

#24. Mindfulness is the capacity to shine the light of awareness onto what's going on here and now. Mindfulness is the heart of meditation practice.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#25. It's wonderful to be alive and to walk on earth.

Nhat Hanh

#26. We wanted peace. We did not care about anyone's victory or defeat. We just wanted the bombs to stop falling on us.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#27. At first glance, that might seem a little silly: why put so much stress on a simple thing? But that's precisely the point.

Nhat Hanh

#28. Understanding someone's suffering is the best gift you can give another person. Understanding is love's other name. If you don't understand, you can't love.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#29. To see one in all and all in one is to break through the great barrier which narrows one's perception of reality,

Thich Nhat Hanh

#30. Father, a day upon the throne would be like a day of sitting on a bed of hot coals for me. If my heart has no peace, how can I fulfil your or the people's trust in me? I have seen how quickly time passes, and I know my youth is no different. Please grant me your permission.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#31. The voice of Thich Nhat Hanh-friendly, patient, steadfast, confident, contemporary, and often witty-seems, to me, an intermediary big brother talking directly to me on every page saying, 'Look! It's right there in you,' the very wisdom that leads to compassion.

Sylvia Boorstein

#32. He knew that even his own father's authority was fragile and restricted - a king did not possess true freedom but was imprisoned by his position.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#33. (from now on I'll use the term "mindfulness" to refer to keeping one's consciousness alive to the present reality), then one must practice right now in one's daily life, not only during meditation sessions. When

Thich Nhat Hanh

#34. It's normal for human beings to identify with their own separate self. The problem is that we get caught in that notion of ourself as a separate individual and caught in that individual self's agenda.

Nhat Hanh

#35. I'm being completely myself, following my breath, conscious of my presence, and conscious of my thoughts and actions. There's no way I can be tossed around mindlessly like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves. The

Thich Nhat Hanh

#36. When a person's speech is full of anger, it is because he or she suffers deeply.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#37. It's very important that we re-learn the art of resting and relaxing. Not only does it help prevent the onset of many illnesses that develop through chronic tension and worrying; it allows us to clear our minds, focus, and find creative solutions to problems.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#38. The Three Kinds of Pride are: (1) thinking I am better than the other(s); (2) thinking I am worse than the other(s); and (3) thinking I am just as good as the other(s).

Thich Nhat Hanh

#39. That's why to love means to learn the art of nourishing our happiness.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#40. When someone does not know how to handle his own suffering, one allows it to spill all over the people around him or her. When you suffer, you make people around you suffer. That's very natural. This is why we have to learn how to handle our suffering, so we won't spread it everywhere.

Nhat Hanh

#41. There are many ways to tell the truth. It's an art.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#42. The moment you wake up, right away, you can smile ... You are aware that a new day is beginning, that life is offering you twenty-four brand new hours to live, and that that's the most precious of gifts.

Nhat Hanh

#43. An emotion is only an emotion. It's just a small part of your whole being. You are much more than your emotion. An emotion comes, stays for a while, and goes away, just like a storm. If you're aware of that, you won't be afraid of your emotions.

Nhat Hanh

#44. Each time you look at a tangerine, you can see deeply into it. You can see everything in the universe in one tangerine. When you peel it and smell it, it's wonderful. You can take your time eating a tangerine and be very happy.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#45. Anapana means breath and sati means mindfulness. Tang Hoi translated it as "Guarding the Mind." The Anapanasati Sutra, that is, is the sutra on using one's breath to maintain mindfulness.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#46. Learn to love, enjoy and embrace what you have in the here and now. That's all you really need to be happy.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#47. If you can be aware that you have a living body, and notice when there's tension in your body, that's already an important insight.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#48. The practice of Zen is to eat, breathe, cook, carry water, and scrub the toilet - to infuse every act of body, speech, and mind - with mindfulness, to illuminate every leaf and pebble, every heap of garbage, every path that leads to our mind's return home.

Nhat Hanh

#49. Our idea of happiness may be the very thing that's preventing us from being happy.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#50. When we return to our breathing, we return to the present moment, our true home. There's no need for us to struggle to arrive somewhere else. We know our final destination is the cemetery. Why are we in a hurry to get there? Why not step in the direction of life, which is in the present moment?

Thich Nhat Hanh

#51. To be a friend means to offer happiness. If love doesn't offer happiness, if it makes the other person cry all the time, then it's not love; it's the opposite.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#52. Being vegetarian here also means that we do not consume dairy and egg products, because they are products of the meat industry. If we stop consuming, they will stop producing. Only collective awakening can create enough determination for action.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#53. If you do not give right attention to the one you love, it is a kind of killing. When you are in the car together, if you are lost in your thoughts, assuming you already know everything about her, she will slowly die.

Nhat Hanh

#54. Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the greatest teachers of our time. He reaches from the heights of insight down to the deepest places of the absolutely ordinary.

Robert Thurman

#55. When you sit alone quietly, it's something beautiful, even if nobody sees it.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#56. If monks and nuns do not cherish their time of practice, they will have nothing to offer the world.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#57. Hell is a matter of everyday life, like the Kingdom of God. The choice is yours.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#58. You can try reading books that will help you be a leader, like Marshall Rosenberg and Thich Nhat Hanh. Be very humble and say, "I don't know why. I don't feel qualified, but I accept this role that you gave me, and so help me."

Sandra Cisneros

#59. When you prepare a meal with artful awareness, it's delicious and healthy. You have put your mindfulness, love, and care into the meal, then people will be eating your love.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#60. There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#61. We should live every day like people who have just been rescued from the moon.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#62. The truth is that everything contains everything else. We cannot just be, we can only inter-be.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#63. Mindfulness isn't something we practice only in the meditation hall; we also practice in the kitchen, in the garden, or when we're on the telephone, driving the car, or washing the dishes.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#64. Soldiers fear the frontier post, monks fear the Surangama Dharani!

Thich Nhat Hanh

#65. Once you develop the practice of smiling, you may not need a reminder. You will smile as soon as you hear a bird singing or see the sunlight streaming through the window.

Nhat Hanh

#66. Our own life is the instrument with which we experiment with the truth.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#67. Often we tell ourselves, "Don't just sit there, do something!" But when we practice awareness, we discover that the opposite may be more helpful: "Don't just do something, sit there!"

Nhat Hanh

#68. I bowed my heard, and I knew that we have a lot to learn from the leaf because it was not afraid - it knew that nothing can be born and nothing can die.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#69. Our own life has to be our message.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#70. An oak tree is an oak tree. That is all it has to do. If an oak tree is less than an oak tree, then we are all in trouble.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#71. Mind is the forerunner of all actions. All deeds are led by mind, created by mind. If one speaks or acts with a corrupt mind, suffering follows. If one speaks or acts with a serene mind, happiness follows.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#72. If you can feel that Mother Earth is in you, and you are Mother Earth, then you are not any longer afraid to die because the earth is not dying. Like a wave appears and disappears and appears again.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#73. Failures are not your own self. See to it that you are free from them. Only when you can relinquish them can you really be free and no longer assailed by them.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#74. A human being is like a television set with millions of channels ... We cannot let just one channel dominate us. We have the seed of everything in us, and we have to recover our own sovereignty.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#75. Nonfear is the basis of true happiness, and if you can offer nonfear to someone, you are giving that person the best kind of gift.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#76. I would not be happy if I had not become a monk.

Nhat Hanh

#77. Meditation is offering your genuine presence to yourself in every moment. It's the capacity to recognize clearly that every moment is a gift of life, a gift from the Earth and sky.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#78. True self is non-self, the awareness that the self is made only of non-self elements. There's no separation between self and other, and everything is interconnected.

Nhat Hanh

#79. There's no way I can be tossed around like a bottle slapped here and there on the waves.

Nhat Hanh

#80. The source of love is deep in us and we can help others realize a lot of happiness. One word, one action, one thought can reduce another person's suffering and bring that person joy.

Nhat Hanh

#81. Don't chew your worries, your fear, or your anger. If you chew your planning and your anxiety, it's difficult to feel grateful for each piece of food. Just chew your food.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#82. In everyone there's a continuous desire and expectation; deep inside, you still expect something better to happen. That is why you check your email many times a day!

Thich Nhat Hanh

#83. You have feet, and if you don't make use of them it's a loss and a waste. Someone is telling you now so that in the future you cannot say: "No one told me that it was important to enjoy using my feet.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#84. Don't chew your worries, your suffering, or your projects. That's not good for your health. Just chew the string bean.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#85. When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#86. One's breath, after all, is hardly attached to any particular creed.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#87. Every one of us is trying to find our true home. Some of us are still searching. Our true home is inside, but it's also in our loved ones around us. When you're in a loving relationship, you and the other person can be a true home for each other.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#88. Nonfear is the cream of the Buddha's teaching. Practicing

Thich Nhat Hanh

#89. As long as we're rejecting ourselves and causing harm to our bodies and minds, there's no point in talking about loving and accepting others.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#90. Be angry, it's okay. To be angry, that is very human. And to learn how to smile at your anger and make peace with your anger is very nice.

Nhat Hanh

#91. Without suffering, there's no happiness. So we shouldn't discriminate against the mud. We have to learn how to embrace and cradle our own suffering and the suffering of the world, with a lot of tenderness.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#92. The verses are meant to help us to bring our awareness back to what's happening in the present moment.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#93. If you truly practice mindfulness, it will never cause harm. If the practice doesn't bring about more compassion, then it's not right mindfulness.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#94. Practice living every moment of your daily life deeply and in freedom. If that's what you really want, then what you need to do is let go of pursuing the past, the future, and all your worries, and come back to the present moment.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#95. We will not just say, "I love him very much," but instead, "I will do something so that he will suffer less." The mind of compassion is truly present when it is effective in removing another person's suffering.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#96. In English we say 'we are' but it's proper to say 'we are becoming' because things are becoming.

Nhat Hanh

#97. He whispered in the king's ear, "If you ask me, I think you should find a wife for Siddhartha. Once he has a family to occupy him, he will abandon this desire to become a monk." King Suddhodana nodded.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#98. As a population, if a large number of people make even small moves to eat less meat and more plant-based foods, the livestock industry will shrink. Over time, farmers will find other crops to support their livelihoods. Through such collective awakening we can make a difference in our world.

Nhat Hanh

#99. The difficult truth is that the basic law of thermodynamics still holds: When we eat more calories than we expend, we gain weight. When we burn more energy through physical activity or exercise than we take in from food and drinks, we lose weight.

Thich Nhat Hanh

#100. People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.

Thich Nhat Hanh