Looking for the best and inspirational Thich Nhat Hanh quotes?
Thich Nhat Hanh was born in central Vietnam and served as a Buddhist monk, professor, and peace activist. He is best known for his teachings of mindfulness and compassionate living. He is one of the most influential Buddhist teachers in the world. One of his most important teachings is that being mindful can help make the world a better place by learning to love oneself more deeply every day.
He has written numerous books that have helped spread his teachings on mindfulness, meditation, and non-violence. In 2007 Thich Nhat Hanh was met with controversy after saying that “the Viet Cong were not terrorists.” Thich Nhat Hanh has also been outspoken about the importance of ending violence to change society for the better.
He is known for his practice of mindfulness and non-violence, which he believes are essential for living in harmony with oneself and others.
While you may feel negative emotions, these quotes can help you transform them into more positive feelings.
55 Inspiring Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes
“We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.”
“If your love is only a will to possess, its not love”
“If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.”
“When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?”
“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”
“Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.”
“Enlightenment is growing all the time. It is not something that happens once and is then complete.”
“You must love in such a way that the person you love feels free.”
“Walk as if you are kissing the earth with your feet.”
“In true love, you attain freedom.”
“We have to continue to learn. We have to be open. And we have to be ready to release our knowledge in order to come to a higher understanding of reality.”
“Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed.”
“The true miracle is not walking on water or walking in air, but simply walking on this earth.”
“Without thinking and talking, there is no obstacle to get in the way of our enjoyment of the present moment.”
“At any moment you have a choice that either leads you closer to your spirit or further away from it.”
“It is possible to live twenty-four hours a day in a state of love. Every movement, every glance, every thought, and every word can be infused with love.”
“Do not say that I’ll depart tomorrow because even today I still arrive.”
“Many people think excitement is happiness…. But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.”
“Being rich is an obstacle to loving. When you are rich, you want to continue to be rich, and so you end up devoting all your time, all your energy, in your daily life to stay rich.”
“People suffer because they are caught in their views. As soon as we release those views, we are free and we don’t suffer anymore.”
“Attachment to views is the greatest impediment to the spiritual path.”
“Our own life has to be our message.”
“When you learn how to suffer, you suffer much less.”
“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.”
“Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.”
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
“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.”
“We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness.”
“Suffering is not enough. Life is both dreadful and wonderful…How can I smile when I am filled with so much sorrow? It is natural–you need to smile to your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow.”
“When you say something really unkind, when you do something in retaliation your anger increases. You make the other person suffer, and he will try hard to say or to do something back to get relief from his suffering. That is how conflict escalates.”
“Many people are alive but don’t touch the miracle of being alive.”
“If you love someone, the greatest gift you can give them is your presence.”
“Be yourself. Life is precious as it is. All the elements for your happiness are already here. There is no need to run, strive, search, or struggle. Just be.”
“When you begin to see that your enemy is suffering, that is the beginning of insight.”
“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”
“No one has ever lived in the past or the future, only the now.”
“Each thought, each action in the sunlight of awareness becomes sacred.”
“We will be more successful in all our endeavors if we can let go of the habit of running all the time, and take little pauses to relax and re-center ourselves. And we’ll also have a lot more joy in living.”
“Life is available only in the present. That is why we should walk in such a way that every step can bring us to the here and the now.”
“The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.”
“Because you are alive, everything is possible.”
“When our beliefs are based on our own direct experience of reality and not on notions offered by others, no one can remove these beliefs from us.”
“Anger is like a storm rising up from the bottom of your consciousness. When you feel it coming, turn your focus to your breath.”
“Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature.”
“We can all practice beginning anew. We can always start over.”
“Life is available only in the present moment.”
“At any moment, you have a choice, that either leads you closer to your spirit or further away from it.”
“We are all the leaves of one tree. We are all the waves of one sea.”
“It is possible to live happily in the here and now. So many conditions of happiness are available—more than enough for you to be happy right now. You don’t have to run into the future in order to get more.”
“Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.”
“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, or possessions – we cannot be free.”
“Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.”
“If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.”
“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.” “There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.”
