No matter what is happening, no matter what is going on around you, never give up

The goal is not to be better than the other man, but your previous self.

I defeat my enemies when I make them my friends.

To remain indifferent to the challenges we face is indefensible. If the goal is noble, whether or not it is realized within our lifetime is largely irrelevant. What we must do therefore is to strive and persevere and never give up.

It is not enough to be compassionate, we must act.

Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.

Don’t ever mistake my silence for ignorance, my calmness for acceptance or my kindness for weakness. Compassion and tolerance are not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.

The true hero is one who conquers his own anger and hatred.

I want to be just a pure spiritual leader.

Hard times build determination and inner strength. Through them we can also come to appreciate the uselessness of anger. Instead of getting angry nurture a deep caring and respect for troublemakers because by creating such trying circumstances they provide us with invaluable opportunities to practice tolerance and patience.

The quality of what we do depends on our motivation, which is why we have to learn how to cultivate a compassionate mind.

Because motivation pervades all action, it is important that we have a positive motivation. Whatever we are involved in, whether it’s politics, education, medicine, law, engineering, science, business or industry, the nature of our motivation determines the character of our work.

The moment you develop a sense of concern for others, you realize that, just like ourselves, they also want happiness; they also want satisfaction.

When you have this sense of concern, your mind automatically widens. At this point, your own problems, even big problems, will not be so significant. The result? Big increase in peace of mind.

So, if you think only of yourself, only your own happiness, the result is actually less happiness. You get more anxiety, more fear.

Be ready to change your goals, but never your values.

It is the enemy who can truly teach us to practice the virtues of compassion and tolerance.

Compassion is of little value if it just remains an idea. It must motivate how we respond to others and be reflected in all our thoughts and actions.

When we are motivated by compassion and wisdom, the results of our actions benefit everyone, not just our individual selves or some immediate convenience. When we are able to recognize and forgive ignorant actions of the past, we gain strength to constructively solve the problems of the present.

“Happiness” means mainly a sense of deep satisfaction. The object of life or our goal, then, is satisfaction.

One great question underlies our experience, whether we think about it or not: what is the purpose of life?… From the moment of birth every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affects this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment… Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.

True happiness comes from having a sense of inner peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved by cultivating altruism, love and compassion, and by eliminating anger, selfishness and greed.

The wiser course is to think of others when pursuing our own happiness.

A good motivation and honesty bring self-confidence, which attracts the trust and respect of others. Therefore the real source of blessings is in our own mind.

A good motivation and honesty bring self-confidence, which attracts the trust and respect of others. Therefore the real source of blessings is in our own mind.

When you care for others, you manifest an inner strength despite any difficulties you face. Your own problems will seem less significant and bothersome to you. Reaching beyond your own problems and taking care of others, you gain confidence, courage and a greater sense of calm.

Through violence, you may ‘solve’ one problem, but you sow the seeds for another.

Pain can change you, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a bad change. Take that pain and turn it into wisdom.

When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new.

The basis of moral principles is to have a real concern for the well-being of others and an appreciation of the oneness of humanity. Whether science or religion is constructive or destructive depends on our motivation and whether we are guided by moral principles.

"I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him; it is what he thinks of himself. To undermine a man's self-respect is a sin."

"Let a man in a garret but burn with enough intensity and he will set fire to the world"

"Transport of the mails, transport of the human voice, transport of flickering pictures --in this century as in others our highest accomplishments still have the single aim of bringing men together."

"The injustice of defeat lies in the fact that its most innocent victims are made to look like heartless accomplices. It is impossible to see behind defeat, the sacrifices, the austere performance of duty, the self-discipline and the vigilance that are there -- those things the god of battle does not take account of."

"Commonly, people believe that defeat is characterized by a general bustle and a feverish rush. Bustle and rush are the signs of victory, not of defeat. Victory is a thing of action. It is a house in the act of being built. Every participant in victory sweats and puffs, carrying the stones for the building of the house. But defeat is a thing of weariness, of incoherence, of boredom. And above all of futility."

"What was my body to me? A kind of flunkey in my service. Let but my anger wax hot, my love grow exalted, my hatred collect in me, and that boasted solidarity between me and my body was gone."

"What was my body to me? A kind of flunkey in my service. Let but my anger wax hot, my love grow exalted, my hatred collect in me, and that boasted solidarity between me and my body was gone."

"You are beautiful, but you are empty. One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you--the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered."

"A civilization is built on what is required of men, not on that which is provided for them."

"Charity never humiliated him who profited from it, nor ever bound him by the chains of gratitude, since it was not to him but to God that the gift was made."

"A pile of rocks ceases to be a rock when somebody contemplates it with the idea of a cathedral in mind."

"We say nothing essential about the cathedral when we speak of its stones. We say nothing essential about Man when we seek to define him by the qualities of men."

"When you give yourself, you receive more than you give."

"I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind."

"How could there be any question of acquiring or possessing, when the one thing needful for a man is to become -- to be at last, and to die in the fullness of his being."

"It is such a secret place, the land of tears."

"He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man."

"The notion of looking on at life has always been hateful to me. What am I if I am not a participant? In order to be, I must participate."

"You are responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose."