We go on in our pleasures thinking they’re going to last forever.

I never make conscious decisions.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.

You have to like the present; if not your life becomes secondhand, if you think it was better before. Or that it will be better in the future.

Meditation has been a loyal friend to me. It has helped me write my books.

If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.

Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quickly you hardly catch it going.

I’m very, very serious – I’m serious enough not to take myself too seriously. That means I can be completely wedded to the moment. But when I leave that moment, I want to be completely wedded to the next moment.

Nurture your minds with great thoughts. To believe in the heroic makes heroes.

Thoughts are fine when you don’t confuse them with who you are, and then thoughts are not a problem. Thinking is a wonderful tool to create things in this world. It only becomes problematic and a source of suffering when you confuse thinking with who you are.

Whatever you dwell on in the conscious grows in your experience.

Control and surrender have to be kept in balance. That’s what surfers do – take control of the situation, then be carried, then take control. In the last few thousand years, we’ve become incredibly adept technically. We’ve treasured the controlling part of ourselves and neglected the surrendering part.

The truth is that there is no actual stress or anxiety in the world; it’s your thoughts that create these false beliefs. You can’t package stress, touch it, or see it. There are only people engaged in stressful thinking.

If it’s stress of things that we cannot control, what you have to do is you mitigate that stress as much as possible. You’ve planned, you’ve trained, you’ve done everything you can in your power to mitigate the stress that’s facing you. And then after that, there’s nothing you can do. So, you have to let that one go.

Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.

We need enlightenment, not just individually but collectively, to save the planet. We need to awaken ourselves. We need to practice mindfulness if we want to have a future, if we want to save ourselves and the planet.

All things are only transitory.

Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends… Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts.

Beware the barrenness of a busy life.

Do every act of your life as if it were your last.

You don’t always have to be doing something. You can just be, and that’s plenty.

Smiling is very important. If we are not able to smile, then the world will not have peace. It is not by going out for a demonstration against nuclear missiles that we can bring about peace. It is with our capacity of smiling, breathing, and being peace that we can make peace.

Day by day we should weigh what we have granted to the spirit of the world against what we have denied to the spirit of Jesus, in thought and especially in deed.

Things done well and with a care, exempt themselves from fear.

The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.

When you take your attention into the present moment, a certain alertness arises. You become more conscious of what’s around you, but also, strangely, a sense of presence that is both within and without.

Everything that happens happens as it should, and if you observe carefully, you will find this to be so.

When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.

Boredom, anger, sadness, or fear are not ‚yours,‘ not personal. They are conditions of the human mind. They come and go. Nothing that comes and goes is you.

We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s dam is the history we make today.

So when you are listening to somebody, completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it.

Total relaxation is the secret to enjoying sitting meditation. I sit with my spine upright, but not rigid; and I relax all the muscles in my body.

Don’t be afraid to see what you see.

If we examine our thoughts, we shall find them always occupied with the past and the future.

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might also pray in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

He who gives away shall have real gain. He who subdues himself shall be free; he shall cease to be a slave of passions. The righteous man casts off evil, and by rooting out lust, bitterness, and illusion do we reach Nirvana.

No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now.

At one point I learned transcendental meditation. This was 30-something years ago. It took me back to the way that I naturally was as a child growing up way in the country, rarely seeing people. I was in that state of oneness with creation and it was as if I didn’t exist except as a part of everything.

I am always wary of decisions made hastily. I am always wary of the first decision, that is, the first thing that comes to my mind if I have to make a decision. This is usually the wrong thing. I have to wait and assess, looking deep into myself, taking the necessary time.

Every blessing ignored becomes a curse.

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.

Each day provides its own gifts.

There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now.

I try not to think about anything special while running. As a matter of fact, I usually run with my mind empty. However, when I run empty-minded, something naturally and abruptly crawls in sometime. That might become an idea that can help me with my writing.

I restore myself when I’m alone.

Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted.

If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to. If you are not afraid of dying, there is nothing you cannot achieve.

I don’t think about the end game. I’ve got lots to occupy my mind. It’s the rage that keeps me going.

I’ve learned people are watching, so don’t do nothing stupid.

There is nothing permanent except change.

Don’t just let the devil use your mind as a garbage dump.

Always say ‚yes‘ to the present moment… Surrender to what is. Say ‚yes‘ to life – and see how life starts suddenly to start working for you rather than against you.

I’m trying to keep a level head. You have to be careful out in the world. It’s so easy to get turned.

The older I get, the better I understand that every day is a gift.

Do the best you can, and don’t take life too serious.

The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notions unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.

Don’t talk about what you have done or what you are going to do.

I am mindful not only of preserving executive powers for myself, but for predecessors as well.

I don’t think I get that upset over things.