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
The present moment is the substance with which the future is made. Therefore, the best way to take care of the future is to take care of the present moment. What else can you do?
Interpretation
What this quote means
Focusing on the present is essential for shaping a positive future.
This quote emphasizes the importance of being present and mindful as a means to influence a better future. By attending to our current actions and choices, we lay the groundwork for what is yet to come, suggesting that the key to ensuring a favorable future lies in how we live in the present moment.
Themes
PresentFutureMindfulnessLivingMoment
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be a great addition to a motivational speech about mindfulness.
More from Nhat Hanh
All quotes →I 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
I heard many discourses which were good for the soul, but I could not discover in the case of any one of the teachers that his life was worthy of his words.
Saint BasilRead
A wound does not destroy us. It activates our self-healing powers. The point is not to "put it behind you" but to keep benefiting from the strength it has awakened.
David RichoRead
Life is a never-ending school, and the really important lessons all tend to teach man his proper relation to the environment where he must live.
Clarence DarrowRead
It is remarkable that when great discoveries are effected, their simplicity always seems to detract from their originality: on these occasions we are reminded of the egg of Columbus!
Benjamin DisraeliRead
You don’t question Providence. If you can’t have the reality, a dream is just as good.
Ray BradburyRead
It's alright, you can afford to lose a day or two
Billy JoelRead