Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with an besotted mind, like a great flood does a sleeping village.
Gautama BuddhaRead
One act of pure love in saving life is greater than spending the whole of one's time in religious offerings to the gods . . .
Interpretation
What this quote means
A single act of genuine love can be more impactful than all the rituals and prayers devoted to deities.
This quote emphasizes the profound value of love and altruism over mere religious observance. Gautama Buddha suggests that true love expressed through selfless actions, like saving a life, holds more significance than many traditional religious practices, which may lack the same depth of personal connection and compassion.
Themes
LoveCompassionSelflessnessSacrificeHumanity
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community service, one could use this quote to highlight the importance of helping others.
More from Gautama Buddha
All quotes βA 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
Then all this became history. Your hand found mine. Life rushed to my fingers like a blood clot. Oh, my carpenter, the fingers are rebuilt. They dance with yours.
Anne SextonRead
Love can never possess. Love is giving freedom to the other. Love is an unconditional gift, it is not a bargain.
RajneeshRead
My request is not for bliss of the Garden. I only desire to see You.
Ibn Al-FaridRead
It is the deep urge to be one with the whole, the deep urge to dissolve I and thou into one unity. Love is that because we are separated from our own source, out of that separation the desire arises to fall back into the whole, to become one with it.
RajneeshRead
If I can't enjoy the full and total happiness of love, then I want to drain its torments, its tortures to the dregs; then I want the woman I love to mistreat me, betray me, and the more cruelly the better. That too is a pleasure.
Leopold Von Sacher-MasochRead
A wise girl kisses but doesn't love, listens but doesn't believe, and leaves before she is left.
Marilyn MonroeRead