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
Each time you look at a tangerine, you can see deeply into it. You can see everything in the universe in one tangerine. When you peel it and smell it, it’s wonderful. You can take your time eating a tangerine and be very happy.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the joy and profound beauty found in simple experiences, such as enjoying a tangerine.
Nhat Hanh's quote emphasizes the importance of mindfulness and appreciating the small pleasures in life. By inviting us to observe and savor a tangerine, he illustrates how everyday moments can connect us to the universe and bring happiness when experienced fully and lovingly.
Themes
MindfulnessHappinessSimplicityAppreciationJoy
In practice
Example use cases
During a mindfulness workshop, this quote could be used to teach participants about the joy found in simple experiences.
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
Mirth is God's medicine. Everybody ought to bathe in it.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
Happy the man whose wish and care a few paternal acres bound, content to breathe his native air in his own ground.
Alexander PopeRead
What happiness this is: to fly, skimming over the earth just as we do in our dreams! Life has become a dream. Can this be the meaning of paradise?
Nikos KazantzakisRead
Love, compassion and concern for others are real sources of happiness. If you have these in abundance, you will not be disturbed even by the most uncomfortable circumstances. If you nurse hatred, however, you will not be happy even in the lap of luxury. Thus, if we really want happiness, we must widen the sphere of love. This is both religious thinking and basic common sense.
Dalai LamaRead
How would you know what happy is if you've never been otherwise.
Malcolm ForbesRead
The feeling of being happy or unhappy rarely depends on our absolute state, but on our perception of the situation, on our capacity to be satisfied with what we have.
Dalai LamaRead