Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with an besotted mind, like a great flood does a sleeping village.
Gautama BuddhaRead
Never have anything to do with likes and dislikes. The absence of what one likes is painful, as is the presence of what one dislikes. Therefore don't take a liking to anything. To lose what one likes is hard, but there are no bonds for those who have no likes and dislikes. From preference arises sorrow, from preference arises fear, but he who is freed from preference has no sorrow and certainly no fear.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote teaches that attachment to preferences can lead to suffering and that freedom from likes and dislikes brings peace.
Gautama Buddha's quote emphasizes the idea that attachment and preference are sources of suffering. When we develop specific likes and dislikes, we risk experiencing pain when we encounter what we don't like or when we lose what we love. By encouraging a mindset free from these attachments, Buddha suggests that one can attain a state of tranquility, devoid of the sorrows and fears that often accompany personal preferences.
Themes
AttachmentSufferingFreedomPreferencesPeace
In practice
Example use cases
In a mindfulness seminar discussing the importance of letting go of attachments.
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.
Gautama BuddhaRead
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.
Gautama BuddhaRead
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.
Gautama BuddhaRead
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.
Gautama BuddhaRead
The tongue like a sharp knife ... Kills without drawing blood.
Gautama BuddhaRead
Similar quotes
Walden is the only book I own, although there are some others unclaimed on my shelves. Every man, I think, reads one book in his life, and this is mine. It is not the best book I ever encountered, perhaps, but it is for me the handiest, and I keep it about me in much the same way one carries a handkerchief - for relief in moments of defluxion or despair.
E. B. WhiteRead
Humility is throwing oneself away in complete concentration on something or someone else.
Madeleine L'EngleRead
The glory that goes with wealth is fleeting and fragile; virtue is a possession glorious and eternal.
SallustRead
Violence in any form is a tragic expression of our unmet needs.
Marshall B. RosenbergRead
He who knows things, and in fighting puts his knowledge into practice, will win his battles. He who knows them not, nor practices them, will surely be defeated.
Sun TzuRead
If there were no tribulation, there would be no rest; if there were no winter, there would be no summer.
Saint John ChrysostomRead