Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with an besotted mind, like a great flood does a sleeping village.
Gautama BuddhaRead
Inner freedom is not guided by our efforts; it comes from seeing what is true.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Inner freedom arises from understanding reality rather than trying hard to achieve it.
This quote by Gautama Buddha emphasizes that true inner freedom is not a result of our external efforts, but rather a profound insight into the nature of truth. By recognizing and accepting what is genuinely real, we can attain a state of freedom within ourselves that is not contingent on circumstances or actions.
Themes
Inner FreedomTruthWisdomUnderstandingBuddha
In practice
Example use cases
During a meditation session, this quote can inspire attendees to reflect on their understanding of reality.
More from Gautama Buddha
All quotes βA kind man who makes good use of wealth is rightly said to possess a great treasure; but the miser who hoards up his riches will have no profit.
Gautama BuddhaRead
There are having flowers in Spring, breezes in Summer, moon in Autumn, snows in Winter. If there is nothing worrying over you, it will be the best seasons at all times.
Gautama BuddhaRead
Make an island of yourself, make yourself your refuge; there is no other refuge. Make truth your island, make truth your refuge; there is no other refuge.
Gautama BuddhaRead
When a wise man is advised of his errors, he will reflect on and improve his conduct. When his misconduct is pointed out, a foolish man will not only disregard the advice but rather repeat the same error.
Gautama BuddhaRead
The tongue like a sharp knife ... Kills without drawing blood.
Gautama BuddhaRead
Similar quotes
Ambition! We must be careful what we mean by it. If it means the desire to get ahead of other people - which is what I think it does mean - then it is bad. If it means simply wanting to do a thing well, then it is good. It isn't wrong for an actor to want to act his part as well as it can possibly be acted, but the wish to have his name in bigger type than the other actors is a bad one.
C. S. LewisRead
For values or guiding principles to be truly effective they have to be verbs. It's not "integrity," it's "always do the right thing." It's not "innovation," it's "look at the problem from a different angle." Articulating our values as verbs gives us a clear idea - we have a clear idea of how to act in any situation.
Simon SinekRead
The awareness of the ambiguity of one's highest achievements, as well as one's deepest failures is a definite symptom of maturity.
Paul TillichRead
If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. Don't wish to be thought to know anything; and even if you appear to be somebody important to others, distrust yourself. For, it is difficult to both keep your faculty of choice in a state conformable to nature, and at the same time acquire external things. But while you are careful about the one, you must of necessity neglect the other
EpictetusRead
The open mind never acts: when we have done our utmost to arrive at a reasonable conclusion, we still must close our minds for the moment with a snap, and act dogmatically on our conclusions.
George Bernard ShawRead
I believe many people feel like God is mad at them. One day I put a post on Facebook that said, 'God is not mad at you.' Within a few hours, we literally had thousands of positive responses from people saying things like, 'That is exactly what I needed to hear today.' Obviously, this is a message we need to hear.
Joyce MeyerRead