Buddha quotes
Siddhartha Gautama — the awakened one. His teachings on the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path form the foundation of Buddhism.
36 passages across 10 themes. More on Buddha.
On mind
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”
“As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind.”
“He abused me, he struck me, he overcame me, he robbed me' -- in those who do not harbor such thoughts hatred will cease.”
“To cease from evil, to do good, and to purify the mind yourself, this is the teaching of all the Buddhas.”
“If, Mahāmati, meat is not eaten by anybody for any reason, there will be no destroyer of life.”
“Listen well, listen well, and mull it over in your thoughts!”
“Whatever an enemy might do to an enemy, or a foe to a foe, the ill-directed mind can do to you even worse.Whatever a mother, father or other kinsman might do for you, the well-directed mind can do for you even better.”
“Develop the mind of equilibrium. You will always be getting praise and blame, but do not let either affect the poise of the mind: follow the calmness, the absence of pride.”
On peace
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
“Well, Lord, is the soul the same as the body, is the soul one thing and the body another?”
“Monks, a lay follower should not engage in five types of business. Which five? Business in weapons, business in human beings, business in meat, business in intoxicants, and business in poison.”
“Leaving behind son and wife, and father and mother, and wealth and grain, and relatives, and sensual pleasures to the limit, one should wander solitary as a rhinoceros horn.”
“The brahman Kasibhāradvāja addressed the Blessed One with a verse.”
“I will not take final Nirvana until I have nuns and female disciples who are accomplished... until I have laywomen followers...who will.... teach the Dhamma”
On action
“The tongue is like a sharp knife, it kills without drawing blood; words in the hands of someone skilled can do more damage than a weapon in the hands of a warrior.”
“Just as the eldest son of a wheel-turning monarch properly keeps in motion the wheel of sovereignty set in motion by his father, so do you, Sāriputta, properly keep in motion the Wheel of Dhamma set in motion by me.”
“Not by birth does one become an outcaste, not by birth does one become a brahman. By one's action one becomes an outcaste, by one's action one becomes a brahman.”
“I will go about, from kingdom to kingdom,”
“The innumerable worlds in the cosmos are like the eyes of the net. Each and every world is different, its variety infinite. So too are the Dharma Doors (methods of cultivation) taught by the Buddhas.”
On wisdom
“Indeed, wisdom is born of meditation; without meditation wisdom is lost. Knowing this twofold path of gain and loss of wisdom, one should conduct oneself so that wisdom may increase.”
“The food of the wise, Mahāmati, is what is eaten by the Rishis; it does not consist of meat and blood.”
“If you have wisdom, you will be without greed or attachment. Always examine yourselves, and do not allow yourselves to have faults, for it is in this way that you will be able to obtain liberation within my Dharma.”
“You should increasingly benefit yourselves by acquiring hearing, contemplating , and cultivating wisdom. Even though a person only has flesh eyes, if he has illuminating wisdom, he has clear understanding.”
“Let my skin and sinews and bones dry up, together with all the flesh and blood of my body! I welcome it! But I will not move from this spot until I have attained the supreme and final wisdom.”
On death
“I spit on my life. Death in battle would be better for me than that I, defeated, survive.”
“I can affirm that a person who neither eats the flesh of other beings nor wears any part of the bodies of other beings, nor even thinks of eating or wearing these things, is a person who will gain liberation.”
“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”
“In a world become blind, I beat the drum of the Deathless.”
On joy
“Can there be joy and laughter When always the world is ablaze? Enshrouded in darkness Should you not seek a light?”
“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, And the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
On truth
“Faith is the best wealth for a man in this world. Righteousness when well practised brings happiness. Truth is the sweetest of flavours. They say the life of one living by wisdom is the best.”
“If you have doubt about suffering and the other Four Truths, you may quickly ask about them now. Do not harbor doubts and fail to clear them up.”
On presence
“There is no meat to be regarded as pure in three ways: not premeditated, not asked for, and not impelled; therefore, refrain from eating meat.”
“In all things, there is neither male nor female.”
On anger
“Conquer anger with love, evil with good, meanness with generosity, and lies with truth.”
On fear
“For fear of causing terror to living beings, Mahāmati, let the Bodhisattva who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh.”