Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their chance to live. Select a vocation that helps realise your ideal of compassion.
Nhat HanhRead
Freedom is the real foundation of happiness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True happiness is rooted in the ability to be free and live authentically.
Nhat Hanh emphasizes that genuine happiness cannot be attained without freedom. Freedom allows individuals to express themselves fully and pursue their desires, leading to a deeper sense of fulfillment and joy in life. When one is free from constraints, both external and internal, they can discover true happiness within themselves.
Themes
FreedomHappinessJoyAuthenticityFulfillment
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about finding joy in life, one might quote Nhat Hanh to emphasize the importance of personal freedom.
More from Nhat Hanh
All quotes βI have lost my smile, but don't worry. The dandelion has it.
Nhat HanhRead
I realize that many elements of the Buddhist teaching can be found in Christianity, Judaism, Islam. I think if Buddhism can help, it is the concrete methods of practice.
Nhat HanhRead
Aware of the suffering caused by the destruction of life, I am committed to cultivating compassion and learning ways to protect the lives of people, animals, plants, and minerals. I am determined not to kill, not to let others kill, and not to support any act of killing in the world, in my thinking, and in my way of life.
Nhat HanhRead
The therapist does not treat patients by simply giving them another set of beliefs. He or she tries to help them see which kinds of ideas and beliefs have led to their suffering. Many patients want to get rid of their painful feelings, but they do not want to get rid of their beliefs, the viewpoints that are the very roots of their feelings.
Nhat HanhRead
Scientists tell us that we have enough technology to save our planet. . . . Yet we don't take advantage of this new technology. . . . The technological has to work hand-in-hand with the spiritual. Our spiritual life is the element that can bring about the energies of peace, calm, brotherhood, understanding, and compassion. Without that, our planet doesn't stand a chance.
Nhat HanhRead
Similar quotes
A way of life that keeps saying 'Around the next corner, above the next step,' works against the natural order of things and makes it so difficult to be happy and good.
Benjamin HoffRead
Nobody is in a position to decree what should make a fellow man happier.
Ludwig Von MisesRead
I must learn to be content with being happier than I deserve.
Jane AustenRead
The really wonderful moments of joy in this world are not the moments of self-satisfaction, but self-forgetfulness. Standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and contemplating your own greatness is pathological. At such moments we are made for a magnificent joy that comes from outside ourselves.
John PiperRead
Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved! That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly.
Leo TolstoyRead
Never let a day pass without looking for the good, feeling the good within you, praising, appreciating, blessing, and being grateful. Make it your life commitment, and you will stand in utter awe of what happens in your life.
Rhonda ByrneRead