Quotations: Eastern Psychology & Philosophy

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Quotations Eastern Psychology & Philosophy

  • Ego will help you to recognize, remove, and replace your ego, a.k.a. self-esteem.

Quotations Eastern Psychology & Philosophy from many sources will improve your perspective and understanding of Eastern psychology.


“Dwell always at the silent level.” —Alfred Korzybski


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Be Where You Are Doing What You are Doing


  • Read to avoid the spiritual pitfalls that Buddha fell into.

Cover for the book "Buddha Failed: 25 Reasons"

Quotations Various Sources

Listed Alphabetically

“A finger points at the moon, but the moon is not at the tip of the finger. Words point at the truth, but the truth is not in words.” —Huineng

“A frog in a well cannot conceive of the ocean.” —Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu)

“A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.” —Bruce Lee, Martial Arts Innovator

“A man is always responsible, whether his act is intentional or inadvertent, whether he is awake or asleep.” —Bava Qamma 2:6

“A man ought to be seen by the gods neither dissatisfied with anything nor complaining.” —Marcus Aurelius

“A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.” —George Moore

“A scholar who cherishes the love of comfort is not fit to be deemed a scholar.” —Lao Tzu

“Acceptance is the very essence of the Tao.” —Huahujing

“Act—act in the living Present!” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“All that matters is having single-minded purpose (ichinen), in the here and now. Life is an ongoing succession of ‘one will’ at a time, each and every moment. A man who realizes this truth need not hurry to do, or seek, anything else anymore. Just live in the present with single-minded purpose. People forget this important truth, and keep seeking other things to accomplish.” ―Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“All these are superfluous and devious growths of knowledge and are not the correct guide for the world.” —Chung Tzu

“Ambition has one heel nailed in well, though she stretch her fingers to touch the heavens.” —Lao Tzu

“An outside enemy exists only if there is anger inside.” —Thubten Zopa Rinpoche

“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” —Romans 13:11

“And therefore it is said that one who argues does so because he cannot see certain points.” —Chung Tzu

“And when they played they really played. And when they worked they really worked.” —Dr. Seuss

“Anger corrupts, as weeds choke a field. Be free of anger, and honor those who are also free.” —Dhammapada: Desires, verse 357

“Anger is like drinking salt water for thirst; it only increases the thirst.” —Caine, Kung Fu, television show

“Anger simply shows that something in you is hurt, some wound is there.” —Osho

“Anger will never disappear so long as thoughts of resentment are cherished in the mind. Anger will disappear just as soon as thoughts of resentment are forgotten.” —Gautama Buddha

“Appearances are deceiving.” —Aphorism

“Appearances are deceptive.” —Aphorism

“As human beings we need to assess whether anger has any value—it destroys our peace of mind. Compassion, on the other hand, brings optimism and hope.” —Dalai Lama XIV

“Attachment creates illusion.” —Buddhist saying

“Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.” —Zen proverb

“Be true to the thought of the moment and avoid distraction. Other than continuing to exert yourself, enter into nothing else, but go to the extent of living single thought by single thought.” ―Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“Be your own light. Be your own refuge. Confide in nothing outside of yourself. Hold fast to truth that it may be your guide. Hold fast to truth that it may be your protector.” —Mahaparinibbana Sutta

“Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.” —Zen saying

“Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” —Confucius

“Believe nothing, no matter when you read it, or who said it, unless it agrees with your own reason.” —Buddha

“Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.” —Buddha

“Better to see the face than to hear the name.” —Zen saying

“Buddha said that life is suffering. However, life is not suffering; ego is suffering.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Buddhism teaches that desire is the cause of suffering. However, desire is not the cause; expectations are the cause of suffering.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Buddhists were actually the first cognitive-behavioral therapists.” —Jack Kornfield, The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology

“But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.” —Ephesians 5:13

“But mankind forgets not that which is to be forgotten, forgetting that which is not to be forgotten. This is forgetfulness indeed.” —Chung Tzu

“By letting go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try, the world is beyond the winning.” —Lao Tzu

“By what path will you reach the Buddha, who is free from all desire, all attachment and all social conditioning?” —Dhammapada: The Buddha, verse 180

“Change is never painful, only the resistance to change is painful.” —Demi Lovato

“Common sense will not accomplish great things. Simply become insane and desperate.” ―Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“Dhyana is retaining one’s tranquil state of mind in any circumstance, unfavorable as well as favorable, and not being disturbed or frustrated even when adverse conditions present themselves one after another.” —Daisetz T. Suzuki

“Do everything with a mind that lets go. Do not expect praise or reward.” —Ajahn Chah

“Do not welcome praise, nor hide from blame. Listen to your Truth and stay calm and clear.” —Dhammapada: The Wise Person, verses 81-82

“Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?” —Lao Tzu

“Don’t give in to anger under any circumstances.” —Dhammapada, Anger, verse 222

“Dwell always at the silent level.” —Alfred Korzybski

“Eastern philosophies, psychologies, and religions often vigorously attack and help people to remove material ego; however, they generally also promote spiritual ego.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.” —Confucius

“Emotional ties bring only sadness and fear. Avoid attachment in emotion and you avoid sadness and fear.” —Dhammapada: Pleasure, verse 213

“Emotionally we have many problems, but these problems are not actual problems; they are something created; they are problems pointed out by our self-centered ideas or views.” —Shunryu Suzuki

“Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” —Bruce Lee

“Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness.” —Samuel Becket

“Everything is one, but this is two.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” —Marcus Aurelius

“Few see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.” —Albert Einstein

“First find the logical way, and when you find it avoid it, and let your inner self break through and guide you. Don’t try to be anybody but yourself.” —Will Marion Cook

“Flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Stay centered by accepting whatever you are doing. This is ultimate.” —Chuang-Tzu (Zhuangzi)

“For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” —Galatians 6:3

“Forget injuries, never forget kindness.” —Confucius

“Ford the fiercest stream of life and overcome desire. Go beyond delusion and opposites. Concentrate on your practice. Attachment will fall away from you and you will know truth.” —Dhammapada: The Highest, verses 383-384

“Forget the years, forget distinctions. Leap into the boundless and make it your home.” —Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu)

“Happiness does not come from having much but from being attached to little.” —Master Cheng Yen

“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” —Dalai Lama

“Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.” —Chung Tzu

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” —Mahatma Gandhi

“Hatreds do not ever cease in this world by hating, but by love; this is an eternal truth.” —Dhammapada,1:5

“He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed.” —Albert Einstein

“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.” —Buddha

“How does a person who cannot tame his desires differ from the most ignorant beast?” —Xenophon, Memorabilia

“Humility is nothing but truth, and pride is nothing but lying.” —St. Vincent de Paul

“I am no self because I am the image of the One Self.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“I do not know if you have ever noticed that the more you struggle to understand, the less you understand any problem. But, the moment you cease to struggle and let the problem tell you the whole story, give all its significance–then there is understanding, which means, obviously, that to understand, the mind must be quiet.” —J. Krishnamurti, The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, Volume Vp. 358

“I can answer your questions better If I am not thinking.” —Wayne Gretzky, In Search of Greatness

“I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who overcomes his enemies.” —Aristotle

“I don’t mind what happens. That is the essence of inner freedom.” —Jiddu Krishnamurti

“I have not understood a bar of music in my life, but I have felt it.” —Igor Stravinsky

“I live by letting things happen.” —Dogen

“Identification prevents and perverts the flow of thought-feeling.” —J. Krishnamurti, The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, Volume IV, page 8

“If a warrior is not unattached to life and death, he will be of no use whatsoever.” —Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“If one is but secure at the foundation, he will not be pained by departure from minor details or affairs that are contrary to expectation. But in the end, the details of a matter are important. The right and wrong of one’s way of doing things are found in trivial matters.” ―Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“If you are maligned by the world, do not harbor bad thoughts against it.” —Sammaparibbajaniya Sutta

“If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will avoid one hundred days of sorrow.” —Chinese proverb

“If you think too long, you think wrong.” —Jim Kaat

“In all things have no preferences.” —Miyamoto Musashi

“In painting, as in the other arts, there’s not a single process, no matter how insignificant, which can be reasonably made into a formula. You come to nature with your theories, and she knocks them all flat.” —Pierre-Auguste Renoir

“In the end these things matter most: How well did you love? How fully did you live? How deeply did you let go?” ―Jack Kornfield

“In this world, hate never dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate. This is the law, ancient and inexhaustible.” —Buddha

“Invest in loss.” —Chinese saying

“Is not virtue a negation of becoming?” —J. Krishnamurti, The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, Vol. III, p. 204

“It is bad when one thing becomes two. One should not look for anything else in the Way of the Samurai. It is the same for anything that is called a Way. Therefore, it is inconsistent to hear something of the Way of Confucius or the Way of the Buddha, and say that this is the Way of the Samurai. If one understands things in this manner, he should be able to hear about all Ways and be more and more in accord with his own.” ―Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“It is better to conquer yourself than to conquer a thousand others. Victory over others is a hollow gain, while victory over oneself is something not even the gods can take or reverse.” —Dhammapada: The Thousands, verses 103–105

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“It is only you who can master your self. But once this is done, it is a rare blessing.” —Dhammapada: Self, verse 160

“Karma means action and action motivated by compassion is good. To complain that what happens to you is just the result of your karma is lazy. Instead, confidently recalling the advice that, ‘You are your own master,’ you can change what happens by taking action.” —Dalai Lama (14th)

“Know yourself and you will win all battles.” —Sun Tzu

“Learn to be silent. Let your quiet mind listen and absorb.” —Pythagoras

“Let this become your key—next time when anger comes, just watch it, don’t say, ‘I am angry.’ Say, ‘Anger is there and I am watching it.’ And see the difference! The difference is vast. Suddenly you are out of the grip of anger. If you say, ‘I am just a watcher, I am not anger,’ you are out of the grip.” —Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

“Letting go gives us freedom and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything—anger, anxiety, or possessions—we cannot be free.” —Thich Nhat Hanh

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them—that only causes sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” —Lao Tzu

“Life is a succession of moments. To live each one is to succeed.” —Corita Kent

“Life is nice if you just leave it be.” —Jeanne Herbert

“Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” —Soren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855, Danish philosopher and writer

“Live calmly. The time will come when the flowers bloom by themselves.” —Buddhist saying

“Look into that closed room, the empty chamber where brightness is born! Fortune and blessing gather where there is stillness. But if you do not keep still—this is what is called sitting but racing around.” —Chuang Tzu

“‘Matters of great concern should be treated lightly.’ Master Ittei commented, ‘Matters of small concern should be treated seriously.’” ―Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“May your life be like a wildflower growing freely in the beauty and joy of each day.” —Native American proverb

“Moreover, the child of parents who have a bad relationship will be unfilial. This is natural. Even the birds and beasts are affected by what they are used to seeing and hearing from the time they are born. Also, the relationship between father and child may deteriorate because of a mother’s foolishness. A mother loves her child above all things, and will be partial to the child that is corrected by his father. If she becomes the child’s ally, there will be discord between father and son. Because of the shallowness of her mind, a woman sees the child as her support in old age.” ―Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.” —Seneca

“Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone.” —Alan Watts

“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.” —Ludwig van Beethoven

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” —Lao Tzu

“Needing leads to bleeding–to almost all inevitable suffering.” —Albert Ellis, Buddhism and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

“No snowflake ever falls in the wrong place.” —Zen proverb

“Not flattered by praise, not hurt by blame.” —Buddhist saying

“Not no-mind, but mind of not.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Nothing holds tighter than attachment to family and money. Break these attachments by overcoming desire, and turn your back on material and sensual pleasures.” —Dhammapada: Desires, verses 345-346

“Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.” —Seneca

“One is the way to gain, the other is the way to nirvana; knowing this fact, students of Buddha should not take pleasure in being honored, but should practice detachment.” —Dhammapada, 5:16

“One loses joy and happiness in the attempt to possess them.” —Masanobu Fukuoka

“Only the hand that erases can write the true thing.” —Meister Eckhart

“Only words and conventions can isolate us from the entirely undefinable something which is everything.” —Alan Watts

“Our ideas of self are created by identification. The less we cling to ideas of self, the freer and happier we will be.” —Jack Kornfield

“Overcome anger by love, overcome evil by good. Overcome the miser by giving, overcome the liar by truth.” —Dhammapada,17:3

“Parts exist only for purposes of figuring and describing, and as we figure the world out we become confused if we do not remember this all the time.” —Alan Watts

“Peace comes from within. Don’t seek it without.” —Buddha

“Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst.” —Lin Yutang

“Relax. Nothing is under control.” —Adi Da Samraj

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” —Leonardo DaVinci

“Singlemindedness is all-powerful.” ―Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“So to understand what is requires a state of mind in which there is no identification or condemnation, which means a mind that is alert yet passive.” —J. Krishnamurti, The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, Volume Vp. 50

“Speak and act from unwise thoughts, and sorrow will follow you as surely as the wheel follows the ox who draws the cart. Speak and act from wise thoughts and happiness will follow you as closely as your shadow, unshakeable.” —Dhammapada

“Speech which argues falls short of its aim.” —Chung Tzu

“That is, when the mind ceases to create, then there is creation.” —J. Krishnamurti, The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, Volume Vp. 362

“The brain is wider than the sky.” —Emily Dickinson

“The essence of the Way is detachment.” —Bodhidharma

“The first and the best victory is to conquer self.” —Plato

“The fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you’ve gotten the fish you can forget the trap. The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit. Once you’ve gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words exist because of meaning. Once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words. Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him? Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him?” —Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu)

“The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.” —William Shakespeare, 1546-1616

“The fundamental upon which all our knowledge and learning rests is the inexplicable.” —Arthur Schopenhauer

“The great man is he who does not lose his child-heart.” —Mencius

“The highest truth is to delete, not to add. To get rid of the things you believe in now. So empty yourself out totally and completely. All of your ideas, your feelings, all have to be emptied out of you.” —Robert Adams

“The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to and you don’t know how or why.” —Albert Einstein

“The more you suffer the deeper grows your character, and with the deepening of your character, you read the more penetratingly into the secrets of life. All great artists, all great religious leaders, and all great social reformers have come out of the intensest struggles which they fought bravely, quite frequently in tears and with bleeding hearts.” —D.T. Suzuki

“The moment a man questions the meaning and value of life, he is sick, since objectively neither has any existence; by asking this question one is merely admitting to a store of unsatisfied libido to which something else must have happened, a kind of fermentation leading to sadness and depression.” —Sigmund Freud

“The noble-minded are calm and steady. Little people are forever fussing and fretting.” —Confucius

“The obstacle is the path.” —Zen proverb

“The place to improve the world is first in one’s own heart and head and hands.” —Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

“The resistance to the unpleasant situation is the root of suffering.” —Ram Dass

“The ridiculous ones are those who try to cultivate quietude—as long as body and mind are unstable, it is madness to go into the mountains.” ―Liu Yiming

“The saint is a man who disciplines his ego. The sage is a man who rids himself of his ego.” —Wei Wu Wei

“The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness.” —Eric Hoffer

“The self of which you speak, whether it is the great self or the small self, is only a concept that does not correspond to any reality.” —Buddha, Zen Keys by Thich Nhat Hanh, p. 38

“The true purpose [of Zen] is to see things as they are, to observe things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes.” —Shunryu Suzuki

“The truth of Zen is the truth of life, and life means to live, to move, to act, not merely to reflect.” —Daisetz T. Suzuki

“The uncontrolled mind is to us as an enemy on the battlefield.” —Krishna, to the Archer Arjuna, from The Bhagavad Gita

“The way to change others’ minds is with affection, and not anger.” —Dalai Lama

“The way to do is be.” —Lao Tzu

“The wise adapt themselves to circumstances, as water molds itself to the pitcher.” —Zen proverb

“The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream than to be emperor of the whole world.” —Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu)

“The world is what we make of it. We create our sorrows. If this is the case, why make problems for ourselves.” —Lie Yukon

“There’s no such thing as a friend who doesn’t have any flaws. But if you try to look for all their flaws, you will remain with no friends.” —Buddhist saying

“There is an ecstasy that marks the summit of life, and beyond which life cannot rise. And such is the paradox of living, this ecstasy comes when one is most alive, and it comes as a complete forgetfulness that one is alive.” —Jack London

“There is no doing only claiming to do, trying to do, and nondoing.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“There will always be suffering. But we must not suffer over the suffering.” —Alan Watts

“They call it ‘peace of mind’ but maybe it should be called ‘peace from mind.’” —Naval Ravikant

“Things are not what they seem.” “Things are never what they look like.” “Things are not as they appear.” “Things are never what they first appear to be.” —Aphorism stated in many forms and styles

“Things never turn out the way you think they will.” —Aphorism

“Things that are done, it is needless to speak about—things that are past, it is needless to blame.” —Confucius

“Think in the morning. Act in the noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.” —William Blake

“This is the way it is.” —Ajahn Chah

“This place is a dream only a sleeper considers it real.” —Rumi

“Those that live their full life in Tao achieve the realization of their nature in inaction.” —Confucius

“Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.” —Buddha

“Those who don’t know how to suffer are the worst off. There are times when the only correct thing we can do is to bear out troubles until a better day.” —Ming-Dao Deng

“Those who suffer from an exaggerated sense of their own ability and accomplishment are continually subject to frustration, disappointment, and rage when reality intrudes and the world doesn’t validate their idealized view of themselves.” —The Fourteenth Dalai Lama

“To be angry is to let others’ mistakes punish yourself. To forgive others is to be good to yourself.” —Master Cheng Yen

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” —Thich Nhat Hanh

“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best day and night to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight and never stop fighting.” —E.E. Cummings

“To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.” —Confucius

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

“To give a person an opinion one must first judge well whether that person is of the disposition to receive it or not.” —Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“To have many extraneous doctrines of charity and duty and regard them in practice as parts of a man’s natural sentiments is not the true way of the Tao.” —Chung Tzu

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist, that is all.” —Oscar Wilde

“To study Buddhism is to study ourselves. To study ourselves is to forget ourselves.” —Dogen

“To think that being righteous is the best one can do and to do one’s utmost to be righteous will, on the contrary, bring many mistakes. The way is in a higher place than righteousness.” ―Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“Turn your mind away from things which are not permanent.” —Majjhima Nikaya

“Unfortunately, it is human nature for us to only learn and grow from a place of emptiness. It’s hard to learn when we are winning and on top of the world.”—Yehuda Berg

“Unless we agree to suffer we cannot be free from suffering.” —D.T. Suzuki

“We are always getting ready to live, but never living.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.” —Carlos Castaneda

“We often add to our pain and suffering by being overly sensitive, over-reacting to minor things, and sometimes taking things too personally.” —Dalai Lama

“Well done is better than well said.” —Benjamin Franklin

“What you believe you experience.” —J. Krishnamurti, Commentaries on Living, Volume 1, p. 88

“Whatever a person frequently thinks and reflects on, that will become the inclination of their mind.” —Buddha

“When anger rises, think of the consequences.” —Confucius

“When I am in my painting, I’m not aware of what I’m doing.” —Jackson Pollock

“When man’s attachments are deep, then divine endowments are shallow.” —Chung Tzu

“When one first seeks the truth, one separates oneself from it”. —Dogen

“When walking, walk. When eating, eat.” —Zen proverb

“When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original selves.” —Dogen

“When you become totally and completely empty there is nothing you have to do to fill it up again. Emptiness is realization. Emptiness is Brahman. Emptiness is the self. Emptiness is your real nature.” —Robert Adams

“When you correct your mind, everything else falls into place.” —Lao Tzu

“When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you.” —Lao Tzu

“Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art.” —Leonardo da Vinci

“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” —Ephesians 5:14

“Whether people be of high or low birth, rich or poor, old or young, enlightened or confused, they are all alike in that they will one day die.” ―Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” —Carl Jung

“Who ranks as the highest? One who acts properly. A recluse who has a pure mind and a traveler who has renounced all. One who is never angry and who never responds to others’ anger.” —Dhammapada: The Highest, verses 388-389

“Who ranks as the highest? One who does not harm anything. One who never retaliates. One who is always at peace regardless of the other person’s disposition.” —Dhammapada: The Highest, verses 405–406

“Who ranks as the highest? One who owns nothing, desires nothing, is attached to nothing.” —Dhammapada: The Highest, verse 421

“Wise men don’t need to prove their point. Men who need to prove their point are not wise.” —Lao Tzu

“With our thoughts, we make the world.” —Gautama Buddha

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You don’t have time to think on the ice.” —Wayne Gretzky, In Search of Greatness

“You have to do the work, no one can do it for you.” —Dhammapada: The Right Way, verse 276

“You never exist quite so much as when you are not thinking.” —Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844-1900, German philosopher

“You never truly need what you want. That is the main and thoroughgoing key to serenity.” —Albert Ellis, Buddhism and Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

“You will always find an answer in the sound of water.” —Zhuangzi (Chuang-tzu)

“You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing things with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you that means everyone else can control you. Breathe and allow things to pass.” —Bruce Lee

“Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission.” —Arnold Bennett

“Your teacher can open the door but you must enter yourself.” —Chinese proverb

“You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger.” —Gautama Buddha

“Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.” —Buddha

“Zen in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one’s being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom.” —D.T. Suzuki

“Zen is not a religion. There is no room for a cult. There is no dependence on a teacher. There is only learning how to use your own mind and making it strong.” —Frederick Lenz

“Zen teaches nothing; it merely enables us to wake up and become aware. It does not teach, it points.” —D.T. Suzuki


  • Read to avoid the spiritual pitfalls that Buddha fell into.

Cover for the book "Buddha Failed: 25 Reasons"

Quotations from Kevin Related to Eastern Psychology

Listed Alphabetically

“An experience is worth a thousand pictures.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Be where you are. Do what you are doing.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Clean the mirror by emptying the vessel.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Emptiness is not self but self is empty.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Empty, weak, meek: these three are the key to the nature of self, of the inner vessel.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Facts can’t feel.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Facts can’t figure.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Facts can’t fix.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“I pray I may be the empty me.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Knowledge does not do.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Knowledge does not get it.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Knowledge does not know.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Knowledge has no intelligence.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Knowledge is not it.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Laughter is the realization that verbal reality failed again.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Meekness is not self but self is meek.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Non-doing is natural as the self is a magnifier and neither the source nor the result of what it magnifies.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Non-doing is not self but self cannot do.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Quit thinking to be.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Quit thinking to do.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Quit thinking to think.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Reflect all and let the light drive away what is not of light.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Right meditation is the control of identity and the freeing of attention.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Surrender is not the answer–rather–absolute weakness as the container is the answer.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“The best present is the present.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“The void is not self but self is void.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“The void is not the answer–rather—self as an empty container is the answer.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Thinking can’t.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Weakness is not self but self is weakness.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“While there is much to do physically, there is only nothing to do psychologically.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice


  • Read to avoid the spiritual pitfalls that Buddha fell into.

Cover for the book "Buddha Failed: 25 Reasons"

Short Enlightenment Story

  • The source for this old enlightenment story has been forgotten.
  1. A man is running from three tigers and comes to a cliff.
  2. He starts to climb down the cliff but notices another three tigers waiting for him at the bottom.
  3. He climbs down further to escape the tigers up top trying to reach him but begins to slip and slide so grabs onto a bush.
  4. The bush is holding but also beginning to loosen from the cliff face, and eventually will become free because of the man’s weight on it.
  5. The man notices a berry on the bush and eats it.
  6. “How sweet,” he exclaims.

  • Read to avoid the spiritual pitfalls that Buddha fell into.

Quotations About Eastern Philosophy and Psychology

6 Groups of Topics Menu


  • Read to avoid the spiritual pitfalls that Buddha fell into.

Quotations About Eastern Philosophy and Psychology