Nhat Hanh Inspirational Quotations

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

When you look at the sun during your walking meditation, the mindfulness of the body helps you to see that the sun is in you; without the sun there is no life at all and suddenly you get in touch with the sun in a different way.

When we recognise the virtues, the talent, the beauty of Mother Earth, something is born in us, some kind of connection; love is born.

If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.

In order to heal others, we first need to heal ourselves. And to heal ourselves, we need to know how to deal with ourselves.

We humans have lost the wisdom of genuinely resting and relaxing. We worry too much. We don't allow our bodies to heal, and we don't allow our minds and hearts to heal.

Every thought you produce, anything you say, any action you do, it bears your signature.

True self is non-self, the awareness that the self is made only of non-self elements. There's no separation between self and other, and everything is interconnected. Once you are aware of that you are no longer caught in the idea that you are a separate entity.

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.

When you love someone, the best thing you can offer is your presence. How can you love if you are not there?

Each moment you are alive is a gem. It needs you to breathe gently for the miracles to be displayed.

If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If we chew every morsel of our food in that way we become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy.

If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love.

The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity.

Smile, breathe, go slowly.

Meditation can help us embrace our worries, our fear, our anger; and that is very healing. We let our own natural capacity of healing do the work.

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.

Every day we do things, we are things that have to do with peace. If we are aware of our life..., our way of looking at things, we will know ohw to make peace right in the moment, we are alive.

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.

Changing is not just changing the things outside of us. First of all we need the right view that transcends all notions including of being and non-being, creator and creature, mind and spirit. That kind of insight is crucial for transformation and healing.

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.

You cannot transmit wisdom and insight to another person. The seed is already there. A good teacher touches the seed, allowing it to wake up, to sprout, and to grow.

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.

You are me, and I am you. Isn't it obvious that we "inter-are"? You cultivate the flower in yourself, so that I will be beautiful. I transform the garbage in myself, so that you will not have to suffer.

Smile, breathe and go slowly.

To take care of the environment, we must first take care of the environmentalist.

I vow to live fully in each moment.

It is not a matter of faith, it is a matter of practice

Breathe in deeply to bring your mind home to your body. Then look at, or think of, the person triggering this emotion: With mindfulness, you can see that she is unhappy, that she is suffering. You can see her wrong perceptions. You can see that she is not beautiful when she says things that are unkind.

The present moment is the only moment available to us and it is the door to all other moments.

It's very important that we re-learn the art of resting and relaxing. Not only does it help prevent the onset of many illnesses that develop through chronic tension and worrying; it allows us to clear our minds, focus, and find creative solutions to problems.