61 Powerful Buddha Quotes From The Dhammapada

Last Updated on March 23, 2024 by The Unbounded Thinker

The Dhammapada, a collection of sayings/quotes, by The Buddha, contains amazing truths and principles important to those on the path of enlightenment. In the text, The Buddha shows readers how to attain Nirvana by requiring them to acquire wisdom, meditate, and avoid a life connected with hate, anger, and desires.

The Buddha first shared the key teachings of The Dhammapada as a way of living during one of his earliest talks, given at a deer sanctuary in India. These teachings have been used by many Buddhists as a guide to the attainment of Nirvana. For this reason, Buddhist scholars believe The Dhammapada is one of the most widely read texts written by Buddha.

I read The Dhammapada and collected the following Buddha quotes/sayings.

Enjoy

“Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts, suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.”
“There are those who do not realize that one day we all must die, but those who realize this settle their quarrels.”
“Just as a storm cannot throw down a rocky mountain, so Mára can never overpower one who lives meditating on the impurities, who is controlled in his senses, moderate in eating, and filled with faith and earnest effort.”
“Just as the rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, even so, passion penetrates an undeveloped mind.’’
“Hold nothing dear, for separation from the dear is painful.”
“The doer of good delights here, he delights hereafter; he delights in both worlds.”
“Although he recites few sacred texts, if he puts the Dhamma into practice, forsaking lust, hatred, and delusion, with true wisdom and emancipated mind, clinging to nothing in this or any other world—he, indeed, partakes of the blessings of a holy life.”
“The wise ones, ever meditative and steadfastly persevering, experience Nirvána, the incomparable freedom from bondage.”
“By effort and heedfulness/mindfulness, discipline and self-mastery, let the wise one make for himself an island which no flood can overwhelm.”
“Do not give way to heedlessness; do not indulge in sensual pleasures. Only the heedful and meditative attain great happiness.”
“The monk who delights in heedfulness and looks with fear at heedlessness will not fall. He is close to Nirvana.”
“A tamed mind brings happiness.”
“Wisdom is not perfected in one whose mind is not steadfast, who knows not the Good Teaching, and whose faith wavers.”
“Before long, alas, this body will lie upon the earth, cast away and lifeless, like a useless log.”
“Whatever harm an enemy may do to an enemy, or a hater to a hater, an ill-directed mind inflicts on oneself greater harm.”
“Neither mother, father, nor any other relative can do one greater good than one’s own well-directed mind.”
“Let none find fault with others; let none see the omissions and commissions of others. But let one see one’s own acts, done and undone.”
“Of all the fragrances—sandal, tagara, blue lotus, and jasmine—the fragrance of virtue is by far the sweetest.”
“Should a seeker not find a companion who is his better or equal, let him resolutely pursue a solitary course; there is no fellowship with a fool.”
“A fool who knows his foolishness is wise at least to that extent.”
“If one finds someone who points out faults and who reproves, one should follow such a wise and sagacious person as one would a guide to hidden treasure. It is always better, and never worse, to cultivate such an association.”
“Irrigators regulate the waters; arrow-makers straighten the arrow shaft; carpenters shape the wood; the wise control themselves.”
“Just as a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, even so the wise are not affected by praise or blame.”
“The good renounce (attachment for) everything; the virtuous do not prattle with a yearning for pleasures. The wise show no elation or depression when touched by happiness or sorrow.”
“Even the gods hold dear the steadfast one, whose senses are subdued like horses well trained by a charioteer, whose pride is destroyed.”
“Self-conquest is far better than the conquest of others. Not even a god, an angel, Mára, or Brahmá can turn into defeat the victory of such a person who is self-subdued and ever restrained in conduct.”
“Better it is to live one day virtuous and meditative than to live a hundred years immoral and uncontrolled.”
“If, like a broken gong, you silence yourself, you have approached Nirvána, for vindictiveness is no more in you.”
“The body is a city built of bones, plastered with flesh and blood, containing within decay and death, pride and contempt.”
“One should do what one teaches others to do.”
“Those wise ones who are devoted to meditation and who delight in the calm of renunciation—such mindful ones, Supreme Buddhas, even the gods hold dear.”
“To avoid all evil, to cultivate good, and to cleanse one’s own mind—this is the teaching of the Buddhas.”
“Not despising, not harming, restraint according to the code of monastic discipline, moderation in food, dwelling in solitude, devotion to meditation—this is the teaching of the Buddhas.”
“There is no satisfying sensual desires even with a rain of gold coins, for sense pleasures give little satisfaction and entail much pain. Having understood this, the wise man finds no delight even in heavenly pleasures. The disciple of the Supreme Buddha delights in the destruction of craving.”
“There is no fire like lust, no crime like hatred. There is no bliss higher than the peace of Nirvána.”
“Health is the highest gain, contentment the greatest wealth. A trustworthy person is the best kinsman, Nirvána, the highest bliss.”
“One who moves in the company of fools grieves for a long time.”
“From lust springs grief, from lust springs fear. For one who is wholly free from lust there is no grief, whence then fear?”
“People hold dear one who embodies virtue and insight, who is principled, has realized the truth, and who himself does what he ought to be doing.”
“As relatives welcome a dear one on arrival, even so, his own good deeds will welcome the doer of good who has gone from this world to the next.”
“One should give up anger, renounce pride, and overcome all fetters. Suffering never befalls him who clings not to mind and body and is detached.”
“Speak the truth; do not give way to anger; give of your little to him that asks of you; by these three things one may go to the realm of gods.”
“There never was, there never will be, nor is there now, a person who is wholly blamed or wholly praised.”
“The wise are controlled in bodily deeds, controlled in speech, and controlled in thought. They are truly well controlled.”
“Easily seen are the faults of others, but one’s own are difficult to see. Like chaff one winnows another’s faults but hides one’s own, even as a crafty fowler hides behind sham branches.”
“Of all paths, the Eightfold Path is the best; of all truths, the Four Noble Truths are the best.”
“Wisdom springs from meditation, without meditation wisdom wanes.”
“He who is full of faith and virtue, and who possesses good repute and wealth—he is respected everywhere, in whatever land he travels.”
“He who sits alone, sleeps alone, and walks alone, who is strenuous and subdues himself alone, will find delight in the solitude of the forest.”
“If anything is to be done, let one do it with sustained vigor.”
“When one is sluggish and gluttonous, lazy, rolling around in bed like a fat pig—that sluggard undergoes rebirth again and again.”
“If for company you find a wise and prudent friend, one who leads a good life, you should overcome all impediments and keep his company, joyously and mindfully.”
“Beset by craving, people run about like an entrapped hare. Held fast by mental fetters, they come to suffering again and again for a long time.”
“That is not a strong fetter, the wise say, which is made of iron, wood, or hemp. But the infatuation and longing for jewels and ornaments, for children and wives—that, the wise say, is a far stronger fetter, which pulls one downward and, though seemingly loose, is hard to remove. This too the wise cut-off. Giving up sensual pleasure, and without any longing, they renounce the world.”
“Let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the present, and cross over to the farther shore of existence. With mind wholly liberated, you shall come no more to birth and decay.”
“He who has reached the goal, fearless, free from craving, stainless, having plucked out the thorns of existence—for him this is the last body.”
“Weeds are the bane of fields, lust the bane of humankind. Therefore what is offered to those free of lust yields abundant fruit.”
“One should not despise what one has received, nor envy the gains of others. The monk who envies the gains of others does not attain to meditative absorption.”
“Riches ruin the foolish, but not those in quest of the Beyond.”
“There is no meditative concentration for one who lacks wisdom, and no wisdom for one who lacks meditative concentration.”
“The monk who is calm in body, calm in speech, calm in thought, well composed and who has spewn out worldliness—he, truly, is called serene.”

These Buddha quotes/sayings from The Dhammapada show that the Buddha mainly promoted righteousness, wisdom, detachment, controlling the senses and stillness of the mind.

I believe you’ve learned a thing or two from The Buddha that will help you on the path of enlightenment.