Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with an besotted mind, like a great flood does a sleeping village.
Good men and bad men differ radically. Bad men never appreciate kindness shown them, but wise men appreciate and are grateful. Wise men try to express their appreciation and gratitude by some return of kindness, not only to their benefactor, but to everyone else
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the contrasting attitudes of good and bad individuals towards kindness, emphasizing the gratefulness of wise men.
In this quote, Gautama Buddha illustrates the fundamental difference between good and bad individuals in how they perceive and respond to kindness. While bad men are incapable of appreciating acts of kindness, wise men not only recognize such gestures but are driven by gratitude to reciprocate kindness and spread it further. This reflects the moral principle that true wisdom involves recognizing the value of kindness and fostering a cycle of goodwill in interactions with others.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared in a speech about the importance of kindness in leadership.
More from Gautama Buddha
All quotes →A 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.
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.
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.
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.
The tongue like a sharp knife ... Kills without drawing blood.
Similar quotes
{While meditating} I sit quietly and rest in the nature of mind; I don't question or doubt whether I am in the "correct" state or not. There is no effort, only rich understanding, wakefulness, and unshakable certainty. When I am in the nature of mind, the ordinary mind is no longer there. There is no need to sustain or confirm a sense of being: I simply am.
I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives.
It is a bad plan that admits of no modification.
Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading.
When the eye is unobstructed, the result is sight. When the ear is unobstructed, the result is hearing. When the mind is unobstructed the result is truth. When the heart is unobstructed, the result is joy and love.
The trouble was, I had been inadequate all along, I simply hadn't thought about it.