Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with an besotted mind, like a great flood does a sleeping village.
Gautama BuddhaRead
A victor only breeds hatred, while a defeated man lives in misery, but a man at peace within lives happily, abandoning up ideas of victory and defeat.
Interpretation
Inner peace is more valuable than external victories or defeats.
This quote by Gautama Buddha emphasizes the importance of internal tranquility over external circumstances such as winning or losing. It suggests that true happiness comes not from achieving status as a victor or suffering as a defeated individual, but from cultivating a peaceful mind that transcends dualities like success and failure.
In practice
During a meditation retreat, this quote can inspire participants to focus on inner peace.
Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with an besotted mind, like a great flood does a sleeping village.
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.
When you learn to say yes to yourself, you will be able to say no to others, with love.
I have no regrets, because I've done everything I could to the best of my ability.
Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it.
It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right
If, then, I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I considered to be the most useful to the men of our century, I should simply say: in the name of God, stop a moment, cease your work, look around you.
Mathematical reasoning may be regarded rather schematically as the exercise of a combination of two facilities, which we may call intuition and ingenuity.
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