Vietnam-born Thich Nhat Hanh is a well-known peace and human rights campaigner. He also played a key role in Vietnam’s post-war reconstruction and reformation. Thich Nhat Hanh, a Buddhist monk who is also a proponent of mindfulness meditation, is relatively well-known in the West.
Personal Details:
Date of Birth: October 11, 1926
Nick Name: Zen Master (Thiền Sư)
Career: Buddhist monk and peace campaigner, author of more than 100 books, founder of numerous colleges and universities.
Death: January 22, 2022 (aged 95)
He has spent decades writing books on peace and mindfulness. Because of the enormous amount of work he has done in this field, Thich has even earned the title “Father of Mindfulness movement.”
This post is a great resource if you’re looking for the best collection of Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes on Life. His best 51 quotes have been chosen by me. The topics that most interest you can be found by filtering the list.
51 Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes on Life
Regarding the Present
“No one has ever lived in the past or the future, only the now.”
“Life is available only in the present moment.”
“Yesterday is already gone. Tomorrow is not yet here. Today is the only day available to us; it is the most important day of our lives.”
“I promise myself that I will enjoy every minute of the day that is given me to live.”
“While you are walking, smile and be in the here and now, and you will transform that place into paradise.”
“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it. “
“When we are mindful, deeply in touch with the present moment, our understanding of what is going on deepens, and we begin to be filled with acceptance, joy, peace and love.”
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.”
“The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms.”
On Being Grateful for Life
“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”
“We are all the leaves of one tree. We are all the waves of one sea.”
“We have to learn to live our life as a human being deeply. We need to live each breath deeply so that we have peace, joy and freedom as we breathe.”
“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.”
“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.”
On Happiness
“The seed of suffering in you may be strong, but don’t wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.”
“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.”
“If we are not happy, if we are not peaceful, we cannot share peace and happiness with others, even those we love, those who live under the same roof. If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.”
The Love
“In true love, you attain freedom.”
“If you love someone but rarely make yourself available to him or her, that is not true love.”
“A true partner or friend is one who encourages you to look deep inside yourself for the beauty and love you’ve been seeking.”
“In true love, there is no pride.”
“Patience is the mark of true love. If you truly love someone, you will be more patient with that person.”
“When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?”
“True love always brings joy to ourselves and to the one we love. If our love does not bring joy to both of us, it is not true love.”
On Education
“There are thousands of channels in our consciousness; it is up to us to choose the channel.”
“We need to be aware of the suffering, but retain our clarity, calmness, and strength so we can help transform the situation.”
“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.”
Take A Breath
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
“Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.”
“Your breathing should flow gracefully, like a river, like a water snake crossing the water, and not like a chain of rugged mountains or the gallop of a horse. To master our breath is to be in control of our bodies and minds. Each time we find ourselves dispersed and find it difficult to gain control of ourselves by different means, the method of watching the breath should always be used.”
Meditation
“My actions are my only true belongings.”
“Sitting in meditation is nourishment for your spirit and nourishment for your body, as well.”
“To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.”
Mindfulness
“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.”
“Every one of us already has the seed of mindfulness. The practice is to cultivate it.”
“Mindfulness is like that—it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life.”
“The energies of mindfulness, concentration and insight can liberate us from our anxiety and worries. We let go of the past and the future, and come in touch with the wonders of the present.”
About nonviolence
“Nonviolent action, born of the awareness of suffering and nurtured by love, is the most effective way to confront adversity.”
“People kill and are killed because they cling too tightly to their own beliefs and ideologies. When we believe that ours is the only faith that contains the truth, violence and suffering will surely be the result.”
“Preventing war is much better than protesting against the war. Protesting the war is too late.”
“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”
“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.”
On Freedom
“Not talking, by itself, already can bring a significant degree of peace. If we can also offer ourselves the deeper silence of not thinking, we can find, in that quiet, a wonderful lightness and freedom.”
“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.”
“Buddhism teaches that joy and happiness arise from letting go. Please sit down and take an inventory of your life. There are things you’ve been hanging on to that really are not useful and deprive you of your freedom. Find the courage to let them go.”
The Real You on
“What you are looking for is already in you…You already are everything you are seeking.”
“Your purpose is to be yourself. You don’t have to run anywhere to become someone else. You are wonderful just as you are.”
“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.”
At Work
“Don’t do any task in order to get it over with. Resolve to do each job in a relaxed way, with all your attention. Enjoy and be one with your work.”
How to Look After Ourselves
“The bad things, don’t do them.
The good things, try to do them.
Try to purify, subdue your own mind.
That is the teaching of all buddhas.”
On Anger
“Anger is like a storm rising up from the bottom of your consciousness. When you feel it coming, turn your focus to your breath.”
