Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes from the Dhammapada (Buddhist Anthology of Verses)

The Dhammapada (“Words of the Doctrine”) is an anthology of verses, comprising of Gautama Buddha’s adages and teachings. Composed in the 3rd century BCE in the Pāli language, it is one of the foundational texts of Buddhism. It has long been one of the most beloved of the Buddhist texts in the West.

The Dhammapada‘s 423 pithy aphorisms are organized topically into 26 vaggas (chapters) that penetrate the core of human experience. The verses are occasionally arranged in pairs, e.g., “The Fool” and “The Sage,” “The World” and “The Buddha,” and other chapters. Many of the Dhammapada‘s aphorisms are also found in other books of the Pāli canon.

The Dhammapada‘s insights carry the endurance of all great literature. It was the first Pāli text ever to be translated, first into Latin by the Danish intellectual Viggo Fausböll in 1855. Over the years, hundreds of scholars have produced voluminous commentaries on the Dhammapada—not only to explain the phrasing of the individual verses but also to add narratives on the occasions on which the Buddha is supposed to have uttered each verse.

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by The Dhammapada

As the bee collects nectar and departs without injuring the flower, or its colour or scent, so let a sage dwell in his village.
The Dhammapada

All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.
The Dhammapada
Topics: Thinking, Evil

Him I call indeed a Brahmana who utters true speech, instructive and free from harshness, so that he offend no one.
The Dhammapada

Let no man ever look for what is pleasant, or what is unpleasant. Not to see what is pleasant is pain, and it is pain to see what is unpleasant.
The Dhammapada

The Bhikshu, full of delight, who is calm in the doctrine of Buddha will reach the quiet place (Nirvana), cessation of natural desires, and happiness.
The Dhammapada

A man is not an elect (Ariya) because he injures living creatures; because he has pity on all living creatures, therefore is a man called Ariya.
The Dhammapada
Topics: Buddhism

A Bhikshu (mendicant) who delights in reflection, who looks with fear on thoughtlessness, cannot fall away (from his perfect state)—he is close upon Nirvana.
The Dhammapada

Let, therefore, no man love anything; loss of the beloved is evil. Those who love nothing and hate nothing, have no fetters.
The Dhammapada

Let a fool month after month eat his food (like an ascetic) with the tip of a blade of Kusa grass, yet he is not worth the sixteenth particle of those who have well weighed the law.
The Dhammapada

An act carelessly performed, a broken vow, and hesitating obedience to discipline, all this brings no great reward.
The Dhammapada

He who inflicts pain on innocent and harmless persons, will soon come to one of the ten states: he will have cruel suffering, loss, injury of the body, heavy affliction, or loss of mind.
The Dhammapada

The taint of prayers is non-repetition; the taint of houses, non-repair; the taint of the body is sloth; the taint of a watchman, thoughtlessness.
The Dhammapada

If a man does what is good, let him do it again; let him delight in it: happiness is the outcome of good.
The Dhammapada

He who overcomes this fierce thirst, difficult to be conquered in this world, sufferings fall off from him, like water-drops from a lotus leaf.
The Dhammapada

There never was, there never will be, nor is there now, a man who is always blamed, or a man who is always praised.
The Dhammapada

Like a well-trained horse when touched by the whip, be ye active and lively, and by faith, by virtue, by energy, by meditation, by discernment of the law you will overcome this great pain (of reproof), perfect in knowledge and in behaviour, and never forgetful.
The Dhammapada

The gods even envy him whose senses, like horses well broken in by the driver, have been subdued, who is free from pride, and free from appetites.
The Dhammapada

The disciples of Gotama are always well awake, and their thoughts day and night are always set on their body.
The Dhammapada

Because a man is rid of evil, therefore he is called Brahmana; because he walks quietly, therefore he is called Samana; because he has sent away his own impurities, therefore he is called Pravragita (Pabbagita, a pilgrim).
The Dhammapada

He who knows that this body s like froth, and has learnt that it is as unsubstantial as a mirage, will break the flower-pointed arrow of illusion, and never see the king of death.
The Dhammapada
Topics: Illusion

Men who have not observed proper discipline, and have not gained treasure in their youth, lie, like broken bows, sighing after the past.
The Dhammapada

Let a wise man blow off the impurities of his self, as a smith blows off the impurities of silver one by one, little by little, and from time to time.
The Dhammapada

The fields are damaged by weeds, mankind is damaged by lust: therefore a gift bestowed on those who are free from lust brings great reward.
The Dhammapada

The thirst of a thoughtless man grows like a creeper; he runs from life to life, like a monkey seeking fruit in the forest.
The Dhammapada

Before long, alas! this body will lie on the earth, despised, without understanding, like a useless log.
The Dhammapada

If a man hold himself dear, let him watch himself carefully; during one at least out of the three watches a wise man should be watchful.
The Dhammapada

Through zeal knowledge is gotten, through lack of zeal knowledge is lost; let a man who knows this double path of gain and loss thus place himself that knowledge may grow.
The Dhammapada

Who shall overcome this earth, and the world of Yama (the lord of the departed), and the world of the gods? Who shall find out the plainly shown path of virtue, as a clever man finds out the (right) flower?
The Dhammapada

Let us live happily then, not hating those who hate us! among men who hate us let us dwell free from hatred!
The Dhammapada
Topics: Buddhism

Him I call indeed a Brahmana who knows the destruction and the return of beings everywhere, who is free from bondage, welfaring (Sugata), and awakened (Buddha).
The Dhammapada

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