You can see everything in the universe in one tangerine. When you peel it and smell it, it’s wonderful. You can take your time eating a tangerine and be very happy.

By eating meat we share the responsibility of climate change, the destruction of our forests, and the poisoning of our air and water. The simple act of becoming a vegetarian will make a difference in the health of our planet.

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.

Only the present moment contains life.

The raft is used to cross the river. It isn't to be carried around on your shoulders. The finger which points at the moon isn't the moon itself.

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

In mindfulness one is not only restful and happy, but alert and awake. Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality.

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

Happiness is a function of compassion. If you do not have compassion in your heart, you do not have any happiness.

Because you are alive, everything is possible.

Feelings, whether of compassion or irritation, should be welcomed, recognized, and treated on an absolutely equal basis; because both are ourselves. The tangerine I am eating is me. The mustard greens I am planting are me. I plant with all my heart and mind. Nothing should be treated more carefully than anything else. In mindfulness, compassion, irritation, mustard green plant, and teapot are all sacred.

The secret is to remove all ideas, all concepts, in order for the truth to have a chance to penetrate, to reveal itself.

Enlightenment is when a wave realizes it is the ocean.

Usually when we hear or read something new, we just compare it to our own ideas. If it is the same, we accept it and say that it is correct. If it is not, we say it is incorrect. In either case, we learn nothing.

I promise myself that I will enjoy every minute of the day that is given me to live.

When our beliefs are based on our own direct experience of reality and not on notions offered by others, no one can remove these beliefs from us.

I would not look upon anger as something foreign to me that I have to fight. I have to deal with my anger with care, with love, with tenderness, with nonviolence.

There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.

The source of suffering is a false belief in permanence and the existence of separate selves.

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge.

Please don't wait until the doctors tell you that you are going to have a baby to begin to take care of it. It is already there. Whatever you are, whatever you do, your baby will get it. Anything you eat, any worries that are on your mind will be for him or her. Can you tell me that you cannot smile? Think of the baby, and smile for him, for her, for the future generations. Please don't tell me that a smile and your sorrow just don't go together. It's your sorrow, but what about your baby? It's not his sorrow, it’s not her sorrow.

Anyone can practice some nonviolence, even soldiers. Some army generals, for example, conduct their operations in ways that avoid killing innocent people; this is a kind of nonviolence. To help soldiers move in the nonviolent direction, we have to be in touch with them. If we divide reality into two camps - the violent and the nonviolent - and stand in one camp while attacking the other, the world will never have peace. We will always blame and condemn those we feel are responsible for wars and social injustice, without recognizing the degree of violence in ourselves. We must work on ourselves and also with those we condemn if we want to have a real impact.

To love is to recognize; to be loved is to be recognized by the other.