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
Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of being present and fully experiencing the here and now.
Nhat Hanh's quote encourages individuals to focus on the present moment, asserting that our experience of life is only truly alive when we are fully engaged in the current moment. By urging us to live in the now, he highlights that dwelling on the past or worrying about the future detracts from the richness and fullness of life.
Themes
PresentMindfulnessHereNowLivingLife
In practice
Example use cases
In a mindfulness workshop, this quote can be used to inspire participants to engage with their surroundings.
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
That men should live honestly, quietly, and comfortably together, it is needful that they should live under a sense of God's will, and in awe of the divine power, hoping to please God, and fearing to offend Him, by their behaviour respectively.
Isaac BarrowRead
Man is a dream about a shadow. But when some splendour falls upon him from God, a glory comes to him and his life is sweet.
R. S. ThomasRead
The quarrels and divisions about religion were evils unknown to the heathen. The reason was because the religion of the heathen consisted rather in rites and ceremonies than in any constant belief.
Francis BaconRead
In many ways, astrology, numerology and palmistry are corruptions of the occult because they have attempted to make a practice out of something that is essentially imaginative.
Isaac Bashevis SingerRead
Why do we smile? Why do we laugh? Why do we feel alone? Why are we sad and confused? Why do we read poetry? Why do we cry when we see a painting? Why is there a riot in the heart when we love? Why do we feel shame? What is that thing in the pit of your stomach called desire?
Benjamin Alire SaenzRead
The difference between a Miracle and a Fact is exactly the difference between a mermaid and a seal.
Mark TwainRead