Thich Nhat Hanh, also known as the ‘Father of Mindfulness’ is a global spiritual leader, poet and peace activist, revered around the world for his pioneering teachings on mindfulness and peace.
He was the founder of what he called “engaged Buddhism” where he practiced applying Buddhist principles to everyday life issues.
In the West, he is known for introducing mindfulness and creating mindful communities (sanghas) around the world and His teachings have had a positive influence on politicians, business leaders, activists, teachers and countless others.
This post is a collection of the best of his Quotes on life, love, peace and mindfulness drawn from his books, speeches and published interviews.
Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes On Love
1. “Love is treating your heart with a great deal of tenderness, with understanding, love, and compassion. If you cannot treat your own heart this way, how can you treat your partner with understanding and love?”
2. “Every one of us is trying to find our true home. Some of us are still searching. Our true home is inside, but it’s also in our loved ones around us. When you’re in a loving relationship, you and the other person can be a true home for each other.”
4. “The more you understand, the more you love; the more you love, the more you understand.”
5. “Love is not a kind of prison. True love gives a lot of space.”
6. “Learn to nourish yourself and the other person with joy. Are you able to make the other person smile? Are you able to increase her confidence and enthusiasm? If you are not able to do these small things for her, how can you say you love her? Sometimes a kind word is enough to help someone blossom like a flower.”
7. “Take my hand. We will walk. We will only walk. We will enjoy our walk without thinking of arriving anywhere.”
8. “Understanding someone’s suffering is the best gift you can give another person. Understanding is love’s other name. If you don’t understand, you can’t love.”
9. “Through my love for you, I want to express my love for the whole cosmos, the whole of humanity, and all beings. By living with you, I want to learn to love everyone and all species. If I succeed in loving you I will be able to love everyone and all species on Earth. This is the real message of love.”
10. “A true partner or friend is one who encourages you to look deep inside yourself for the beauty and love you’ve been seeking.”
11. “The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”
12. “If we practice the art of mindful living together, we see that the other person, like us, has both flowers and compost inside, and we accept this. Our practice is to water the flowerness in her, and not bring her more garbage.
13. “We avoid blaming and arguing when we try to grow flowers, if the flowers do not grow well, we do not blame or argue with them. We ask ourselves what we can do to help them grow more beautifully”
14. “We really have to understand the person we want to love. If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. If we only think of ourselves, if we know only our own needs and ignore the needs of the other person, we cannot love.”
15. “Be a friend to yourself. If you are a true friend to yourself, you can be a true friend to a loved one. A romantic crush is short-lived, but friendship and loving-kindness can last very long and continue to grow.”
16. “Wash every bowl, every dish as if you are bathing a baby-Buddha, a baby Jesus, breathing in, feeling joy; breathing out smiling. Every minute can be a holy, sacred minute.”
17. “Being rich is an obstacle to love. When you are rich, you want to continue to be rich, and you end up devoting all your time, all your energy, in your daily life to stay rich.”
18. “If our parents didn’t love and understand each other, how are we to know what love looks like? There aren’t courses or classes in love. If the grown-ups know how to take care of each other, then the children who grow up in this environment will naturally know how to love, understand, and bring happiness to others. The most precious inheritance that parents can give their children is their own happiness. Our parents may be able to leave us money, houses, and land, but they may not be happy people. If we have happy parents, we have received the richest inheritance of all.”
19. “The first element of true love is loving-kindness. The essence of loving kindness is being able to offer happiness. You can be the sunshine for another person. You can’t offer happiness until you have it for yourself. So build a home inside by accepting yourself and learning to love and heal yourself. Learn how to practice mindfulness in such a way that you can create moments of happiness and joy for your own nourishment. Then you have something to offer the other person.”
20. “When we love someone, we should look deeply into the nature of that love. True love doesn’t contain suffering and attachment. It brings well-being to ourselves and others. True love is generated from within. With true love, you feel complete. True love is like the sun, shining with its own light, and offering that light to everyone.”
Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes on Suffering
21. “To feel sadness, loneliness, is not something bad. All of us feel sad or lonely from time to time, and we can learn to come back to course;ves to
22. “This food is a gift of the earth, the sky, numerous living beings, and much hard and loving work.”
23. “Having a toothache helps us see that not having a toothache is a very pleasant feeling.”
24. “If you can recognize and accept your pain without running away from it, you will discover that although pain is there, joy can also be there at the same time.”
25. ‘When there is anxiety, irritation, or anger in us, we cannot decide clearly what to do.”
26. “If you want to succeed in the practice of concentration, make it interesting.”
27. “Life is only available in the present. It is necessary to return to this moment to be in touch with life as it really is.”
28. “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,”
29. “Understanding someone’s suffering is the best gift you can give another person. Understanding is love’s other name. If you don’t understand, you can’t love.”
30. “A true partner or friend is one who encourages you to look deep inside yourself for the beauty and love you’ve been seeking.”
31. “Be a friend to yourself. If you are a true friend to yourself, you can be a true friend to a loved one.”
32. “Understanding is the very foundation of love, it’s another word for love because, once we understand, we already begin to love. There is a very deep connection between the heart and mind.” Thich Nhat Hanh
33. “The more happiness and love that can be reborn the better, because it will make this world more beautiful and kind. Therefore you and I should be living our weeks, days, and hours in order to be reborn constantly as happiness, love and kindness.”
Life quotes by Thich Nhat Hanh
34. “Walk like a free person, put things down, don’t carry anything, and feel light, there is a burden we always carry with us. The skill we need is how to lay down our burden in order to be light.” Thich Nhat Hanh
35. “Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.”
36. “Silence is something that comes from your heart, not from outside. Silence doesn’t mean not talking and not doing things, it means that you are not disturbed inside.”
37. “When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That’s the message he is giving.”
38. “Try to help in such a way that you can be calm and at peace and not lose yourself in the act of service.
39. “At any moment you have a choice that either leads you closer to your spirit or farther away from it.”
40. “To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”
41. “The best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment.”
42. “Earth is not just our environment. We are the Earth and the Earth is us. We have always been one with the Earth.”
43. “We should learn to ask, “What’s not wrong?” And be in touch with that.
44. “When you are able to get out of the shell of your small self, you will see that you are interrelated to everyone and everything, that your every act is linked with the whole of humankind and the whole cosmos.”
45. “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”
46. “Each child is born in the garden of humanity as a flower. Each flower differs from every other flower.’
47. “You give freedom – freedom from anger, sorrow, forgetfulness, the past, the future. You are capable of being a free person in the here and now. That is the greatest gift.”
48. “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 cannot be free.”
49. “The whole cosmos has come together to create you. You carry the whole cosmos inside you. That is why to accept yourself is an expression of gratitude.”
50. “Open your mouth only if what you are going to say is more beautiful than silence.”
51. “Words can travel thousands of miles. May my words create mutual understanding and love. May they be as beautiful as gems, as lovely as flowers.”
52. “At any moment, you have a choice, that either leads you closer to your spirit or further away from it.”
53. “Like the anger of fire shapes metal, like the sorrow of a writer creates poetry, everything that is beautiful doesn’t always start beautifully.”
54. “We humans have lost the wisdom of genuinely resting and relaxing. We worry too much. We don’t allow our bodies to heal, and we don’t allow our minds and hearts to heal.” Thich Nath Hanh
55. “Knowing that words can create happiness and suffering, I am committed to speaking truthfully, using words that inspire confidence, joy and hope.”
56. “To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.”
57. “The world needs joyous and loving people who are capable of just being. If you know the art of being peaceful, then you have the basis for your every action. The ground for action is to be, and the quality determines the quality of doing.”
58. “Planting a seed, washing a dish and cutting grass is as eternal and as beautiful as writing a poem.”
Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes on Mindfulness
59. “Due to attachment, anger and foolishness, I have committed numberless mistakes in speech, deed and thoughts. I bow my head and repeat, I vow from today to begin anew, to live day and night in mindfulness, and not to repeat my previous mistake.”
60. “Walk slowly. Don’t rush. Each step brings you to the best moment of your life, the present moment.”
61. “The miracle of mindfulness: It’s like morning sunlight shining on a lotus flower. The bud has not opened yet, but as the sunlight pours down, the photons penetrate into the bud and after one or two hours of being penetrated by the light, the flower opens itself.”
62. “The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.”
63. “Breathing in, I see myself as still water. Breathing out, I reflect things as they are.”
64. “In mindfulness one is not only restful and happy, but also alert and awake. Meditation is not evasion; it is a serene encounter with reality. Thich Nhat Hanh
65. “When a feeling of sadness, despair, or anger arises, we should stop what we are doing in order to go home to ourselves and take care. We can sit or lie down and begin to practice mindful breathing. The daily practice of breathing can be very helpful. A strong emotion is like a storm, and when a storm is about to arrive, we should prepare so we can cope with it.” Thich Nhat Hanh
66. “People usually consider walking on water or in thin air to be a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk on water or in thin air but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child, own two eyes. All is a miracle.”
67. “Whether we can wake up or not, depends on whether we can walk mindfully on our Mother Earth. The future of all life, including our own, depends on our mindful steps.”
68. “When we are in touch when we are fully aware of the wonder of walking on the Earth, each step nourishes and heals us.”
69. “Breathing in I calm my body and mind. Breathing out I smile. Dwelling in the present moment, I know this is the only moment.”
70. “When you breathe mindfully you bring your mind home to your body.”
71. “Awareness is like the sun, when it shines on things, they are transformed.”
72. “Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves-slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.”
73. “Peace while breathing. Peace while walking. Peace is the breathing. Peace is the walking.”
Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes on Meditation
74. “Breathing in I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in the present moment I know this is the only moment.”
75. “The day is ending and our life is one day shorter. Let us look carefully at what we have done. Let us practice diligently, putting our whole hearts into the path of meditation. Let us live deeply each moment and in freedom, so the time doesn’t slip away meaninglessly.”
76. “To meditate means to pay full attention to something. It doesn’t mean to run away from life. Instead, it’s an opportunity to look deeply into ourselves and into the situation we’re in.” Thich Nair Hanh
77. “Meditation is not an escape it is the courage to look at reality with Mindfulness.” Thich Nhat Hanh
78. “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
Motivational quotes by Thich Nhat Hanh
79. “You can’t calm the storm…so stop trying, what you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.”
80. “We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive.”
81. “We humans have lost the wisdom of genuinely resting and relaxing. We worry too much. We don’t allow our bodies to heal, and we don’t allow our minds and hearts to heal.” Thich Nath Hanh
82. “Each moment you are alive is a gem. You only need to breathe gently for the miracles to be displayed.”
83. “Don’t think happiness will be possible only when conditions around you are perfect. Happiness lies in your own heart.” Thick Nath Hanh
84. “Spirituality is not the religion. It is the path for us to generate happiness, understanding, and love, so we can live deeply each moment of our life. Having a spiritual dimension in our lives does not mean escaping life or dwelling in a place of bliss outside this world, but discovering ways to handle life’s difficulties and generate peace., joy, and happiness right where we are, on this beautiful planet.” Thich Nhat Hanh
85. “Many of us think that only once we have this or that, only once the situation changes, only “then” can we be happy. We do not recognize our happiness in the “now”, and we seek it in the “then.” We have the idea that happiness lies in some future moment… And while we busy ourselves trying to bring about that, then,” we abandon our loved ones in the “now.”
86. “If you are restless, if you are not able to sit peacefully and with stability, it is because you are not established in the now. Restlessness is the disease of our times and the more we try to fill it with the consumption of things… the more the emptiness grows and the more restless we become. We should remind each other that the now is the only thing that is solid and real.”
87. “The spiritual is in the ordinary!
88. “With mindfulness and concentration, everything becomes spiritual. Where do you seek the spiritual? Seek it in every ordinary thing that you do every day. Sweeping the floor, watering the vegetables, and washing the dishes become holy and sacred if mindfulness and concentration are there. Every minute can be a holy, sacred minute.” Thich Nhat Hanh
89. “People have a hard time letting go of their suffering, out of fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”
Thich Nhat Hanh quotes on Happiness
90. “Many people think excitement is happiness… But when you are excited you are not peaceful. True happiness is based on peace.”
91. “The seed of suffering in you may be strong but don’t wait until you have no more suffering before allowing yourself to be happy.”
92. “Ask yourself, who can I make smile this morning? This is the art of creating happiness.”
93. “Don’t run away from the things that are unpleasant in order to embrace things that are pleasant. Put your hands on the earth. Face the difficulties and grow new happiness.”
94. “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 cannot be free.”
95. “The Buddha said Happiness can only be possible in the here and now.”
96. “When you identify and nurture your deepest desire, it can become a source of great happiness, energy and motivation.”
97. “Letting go takes a lot of courage. But once you let go, happiness comes very quickly.”
98. “When we’re caught in a belief that happiness should take a particular form, we fail to see the opportunities for joy that are right in front of us.”
99. “People should learn how to just be there, doing nothing….It’s not so easy to just be. If you can be happy, relaxed and smiling when you’re not doing something, you’re quite strong. Doing nothing brings about the quality of being. Which is very important. So doing nothing is actually something.”
Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes On Suffering
100. “To understand the suffering of others, we must first touch our own suffering and listen to it.”
101. “If you suffer and make your loved ones suffer, there is nothing that can justify your desire.”
102. “Don’t throw away your suffering. Touch your suffering. Face it directly and your joy will become deeper. You know that suffering and joy are both impermanent. Learn the art of cultivating joy. Practice like this and you come to the third turning of the Third Noble Truth, the “Realization” that suffering and happiness are not two. When you reach this stage, your joy is no longer fragile. It is a true joy.”
103. “Suffering is not enough. Life is both dreadful and wonderful. How can I smile when I am filled with so much sorrow? It is natural— you need to smile at your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow.”
104. “When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment, he needs help.”
Short quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh
105. “I think God is on Earth, inside every living being.”
106.”Our own life has to be our message.”
107.”We are here to awaken from our separateness.”
108. “My actions are my true belongings.”
109. “Life is available only in the present moment.”
110. “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
111. “I vow to let go of all worries and anxiety in order to be light and free.”
112. “In true love, you attain freedom.”
113. “By taking good care of the present moment, we take good care of the future.”
114. “To be making steps on this beautiful planet is a miracle.”
115. “No mud, no lotus.”
116. “I am a continuation like the rain is the continuation of the cloud.”
117. “Breathe and go slowly.’
118. “Smile, breathe and go slowly.”
119. “Come back to the present moment and touch life deeply.”
120. “I promise myself that I will enjoy every minute of the day that is given me to live.”
121. “It’s only when you feel at home in the here and now that you can have peace.”
122. “May our heart’s garden bloom with hundreds of flowers.”
123. “Looking at a speck of dust, an awakened person sees the Universe.”
124. “We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize.”
125. “Only the present moment contains life.”
126. “Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.”
More from Thich Nhat Hanh Quotes
127. “Without mud, you cannot have a lotus flower. Without suffering, you have no way in order to learn how to be understanding and compassionate. Happiness is the lotus flower, and suffering is the mud. So the practice is how to make use of the suffering, make use of the mud, to create the flower, the happiness, and this is possible.”
128. “Being alive is a miracle. Just sitting there, enjoying your in-breathe and out-breathe is already happiness. Since you’re breathing in and out, you know that you’re alive. That’s something worth celebrating. So sitting meditation is a way to celebrate life with your in-breathe and out-breathe.”
129. “Our thinking can make us suffer, but it can also make us free.”
130. “If we want peace, we have to be peace. Peace is a practice and not a hope.”
