100+ Inspiring Buddha Quotes on Life, Meditation, and Compassion

Reading Buddha quotes can help remind you what life is all about. Buddha regularly shared wisdom regarding the mind and how something as simple as thoughts can control your whole life. If you practice meditation, you might find these Buddha quotes particularly helpful during periods when your mind wanders to help you regain control of the wandering mind. These Buddha quotes also touch on compassion, love, anger, and change which are all important in living a good life.

100+ Inspiring Buddha Quotes on Life, Meditation, and Compassion

Buddha Quotes

1. “Quiet the mind and the soul will speak.”
2. “What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.”
3. “Happiness will never come to those who fail to appreciate what they already have.”
4. “You don’t have a Soul. You are a soul. You have a body.”
5. “If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down.”
6. “All suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their own happiness or satisfaction.”
7. “Before you speak, let your words pass through three gates: Is it true? Is it necessary? Is it kind?”
8. “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.”
9. “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.”
10. “Purity or impurity depends on oneself, no one can purify another.”

Buddha Quotes on Life 

1. “Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”
2. “In the end, only three things matters: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”
3. “Don’t rush anything. When the time is right it’ll happen.”
4. “To understand everything is to forgive everything.”
5. “When it hurts, observe. Life is trying to teach you something.”
6. “Change is never painful. Only resistance to change is painful.” 
7. “One moment can change a day, one day can change a life, and one life can change the world.”
8. “The root of all suffering is attachment.”
9. “The trouble is, you think you have time.”
10. “Your mind is a powerful thing. When you start to filter it with positive thoughts your life will start to change.”

Gautama Buddha Quotes

1. “If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another.”
2. “Be where you are; otherwise you will miss your life.”
3. “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”
4. “Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
5. “Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are. It solely relies on what you think.”
6. “Suffering is not holding you, you are holding suffering.”
7. “Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.”
8. “Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.”
9. “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
10. “I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.”

Quotes From Buddha

1. “If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way.”
2. “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”
3. “When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”
4. “Give, even if you only have a little.”
5. “You only lose what you cling to.”
6. “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
7. “I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.”
8. “I will not look at another’s bowl intent on finding a fault: a training to be observed.”
9. “Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.”
10. “What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.”

Real Buddha Quotes

1. “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
2. “It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.”
3. “What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil, envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.”
4. “All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. If a man speak or act with an evil thought, suffering follows him as the wheel follows the hoof of the beast that draws the wagon…. If a man speak or act with a good thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.”
5. “It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you.”
6. “Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
7. “Those who have failed to work toward the truth have missed the purpose of living.”
8. “Long is the night to him who is awake; long is a mile to him who is tired; long is life to the foolish who do not know the true law.”
9. “Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes.”

Buddha Quotes Meditation

1. “Meditate… do not delay, lest you later regret it.”
2. “One should strive to understand what underlies sufferings and diseases – and aim for health and well-being while gaining in the path.”
3. “Delight in meditation and solitude. Compose yourself, be happy. You are a seeker.”
4. “If a man’s thoughts are muddy, If he is reckless and full of deceit, How can he wear the yellow robe? Whoever is master of his own nature, Bright, clear and true, He may indeed wear the yellow robe.”
5. “Like a fine flower, beautiful to look at but without scent, fine words are fruitless in a man who does not act in accordance with them.”
6. “Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine”
7. “What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.”
8. “For soon the body is discarded, Then what does it feel? A useless log of wood, it lies on the ground, Then what does it know? Your worst enemy cannot harm you As much as your own thoughts, unguarded. But once mastered, No one can help you as much, Not even your father or your mother.”
9. “If you are quiet enough, you will hear the flow of the universe. You will feel its rhythm. Go with this flow. Happiness lies ahead. Meditation is key.”
10. “Though one should live a hundred years without wisdom and control, yet better, indeed, is a single day’s life of one who is wise and meditative.”
11. “Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what hold you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”
12. “If you meditate earnestly, pure in mind and kind in deeds, leading a disciplined life in harmony with the dharma, you will grow in glory. If you meditate earnestly, through spiritual disciplines you can make an island for yourself that no flood can overwhelm.”

Buddha Quotes on Karma

1. “If you light a lamp for someone else it will also brighten your path.”
2. “Neither fire, nor wind, birth, nor death, can erase our good deeds.”
3. “Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.”
4. “Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.”
5. “If we fail to look after others when they need help, who will look after us?”
6. “One who acts on truth is happy in this world and beyond.”
7. “Remembering a wrong is like carrying a burden on the mind.”

Buddha Inspirational Quotes

1. “There is no fear for one whose mind is not filled with desires.”
2. “Irrigators channel waters; fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters bend wood; the wise master themselves.”
3. “Stop, stop. Do not speak. The ultimate truth is not even to think.”
4. “Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.”
5. “Avoid evil deeds as a man who loves life avoids poison.”

Buddha Quotes on Love

1. “If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.”
2. “You are far from the end of your journey. The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart. See how you love.”
3. “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.”
4. “You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserves your love and affection.”
5. “There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.”
6. “True love is born from understanding.”
7. “Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life, even so let one cultivate a boundless love towards all beings.”
8. “Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals.”

Buddha Quotes on Change

1. “Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.”
2. “Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.”
3. “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
4. “To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.”
5. “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”
6. “To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.”

Buddha Quotes on Compassion

1. “If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.”
2. “Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little.”
3. “Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.”
4. “‎Imagine that every person in the world is enlightened but you. They are all your teachers, each doing just the right things to help you learn perfect patience, perfect wisdom, perfect compassion.”
5. “As rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, do not burden your heart with judgement but rain your kindness equally on all.”
6. “In separateness lies the world’s greatest misery; in compassion lies the world’s true strength.”
7. “For the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world.”
8. “People with opinions just go around bothering each other.”
9. “Whatever living beings there may be feeble or strong, long, stout, or of medium size, short, small, large, those seen or those unseen, those dwelling far or near, those who are born as well as those yet to be born may all beings have happy minds.”

Buddha Quotes on Anger

1. “The tongue like a sharp knife kills without drawing blood.”
2. “Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”
3. “You will not be punished for your anger. You will be punished by your anger.”
4. “Conquer anger with non-anger. Conquer badness with goodness. Conquer meanness with generosity.”
5. “Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.”
6. “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
7. “Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten.”
8. “Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.”
9. “It is a man’s own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.”
10. “Silence the angry man with love. Silence the ill-natured man with kindness. Silence the miser with generosity. Silence the liar with truth.”

Inner Peace Quotes Buddha

1. “At the end of the day, I’m at peace because my intentions are good and my heart is pure.”
2. “It’s better to travel well than to arrive.”
3. “A man is not called wise because he talks and talks again; but if he is peaceful, loving, and fearless then he is in truth called wise.”
4. “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
5. “Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.”
6. “Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.”
7. “Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.”
8. “However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you If you do not act upon them?”
9. “To support mother and father, to cherish wife and children, and to be engaged in peaceful occupation — this is the greatest blessing.”
10. “Friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee of peace.”

Read our article on inner peace.

Conclusion

These Buddha quotes offered great insight into being more compassionate, controlling your anger, managing your thoughts, and being a more loving person. Whenever you find yourself feeling like yourself living an autopilot life, you can turn to these quotes or a guided meditation practice to help you become more aware of the impact your thoughts have on the life lessons you learn along the way.