Death carries off a man busy picking flowers with an besotted mind, like a great flood does a sleeping village.
Gautama BuddhaRead
The wise have mastered body, word, and mind. They are the true masters.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of self-mastery in body, speech, and thought as the path to true mastery.
This quote by Gautama Buddha suggests that true wisdom and mastery in life come from the ability to control and harmonize one's physical actions, spoken words, and mental thoughts. It implies that those who have achieved this level of self-regulation are considered the true masters of themselves and their circumstances, leading to a deeper understanding and fulfillment in life.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal development, one might use this quote to encourage the audience to focus on self-mastery.
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.
We're all just a bundle of habits shaped by our memories. And to the extent that we control our lives, we do so by gradually altering those habits, which is to say the networks of our memory. No lasting joke, or invention, or insight, or work of art was ever produced by an external memory. Not yet, at least.
The true lover of knowledge naturally strives for truth, and is not content with common opinion, but soars with undimmed and unwearied passion till he grasps the essential nature of things.
My advice: Don't waste so much time worrying about your skin or your weight. Develop what you do, what you put your hands on in the world.
Would you sell both your eyes for a million dollars...or your two legs...or your hands...or your hearing? Add up what you do have, and you'll find you won't sell them for all the gold in the world. The best things in life are yours, if you can appreciate them.
Experience is the only teacher we have. We may talk and reason all our lives, but we shall not understand a word of truth until we experience it ourselves.
We should never rush into folly just because other nations are practicing it.
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