Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with an besotted mind, like a great flood does a sleeping village.
Do not be jealous of others' good qualities, but out of admiration adopt them yourself.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Instead of feeling envy towards the positive traits of others, learn from them and incorporate those qualities into your own life.
This quote by Gautama Buddha emphasizes the importance of viewing the admirable qualities of others not with jealousy, but with a desire to learn and grow. Rather than allowing envy to breed negativity, we should seek inspiration in the achievements and characteristics of those we admire, adopting their good qualities to improve ourselves. This approach fosters personal development and encourages a positive mindset within ourselves and towards others.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about personal development during a workshop, one might say, 'As we grow, remember the words of Buddha: do not be jealous of others' good qualities.'
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
Can anything be more disgusting than to hear people called 'educated' making small jokes about eating ham, and showing themselves empty of any real knowledge as to the relation of their own social and religious life to the history of the people they think themselves witty in insulting? [...] The best thing that can be said of it is, that it is a sign of the intellectual narrowness—in plain English, the stupidity which is still the average mark of our culture.
One gains universal applause who mingles the useful with the agreeable, at once delighting and instructing the reader.
Soul, if you want to learn secrets, your heart must forget about shame and dignity. You are God's lover, yet you worry what people are saying.
No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for 'we' are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.
Self-control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power.
...we should all fortify ourselves against the dark hours of depression by cultivating a deep distrust of the certainties of despair. Despair is relentless in the certainties of its pessimism. But we have seen again and again, from our own experience and others', that absolute statements of hopelessness that we make in the dark are notoriously unreliable. Our dark certainties are not sureties.