We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

~ The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama, born in 1935, is the 14th Dalai Lama and his religious name is Tenzin Gyatso, and he is perhaps one of most influentially spiritual men of modern time. In 1959, during the Tibetan uprising, he fled Tibet and crossed into India where he later set up The Government of Tibet in Exile in Dharamshala, India. Some 80,000 Tibetan refugees followed him, and he later created a Tibetan educational system to teach thousands of children. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and is well known for his life-time support and activism for Tibetans. His charisma, appealing personality, enthusiasm for Buddhism and human interest values has made him a spiritual favorite throughout the world, including the United States. He is also the longest serving Dalai Lama in history.

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”

“The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear and suspicion, while love and compassion and a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.”

“I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.”

“If you don’t love yourself, you cannot love others. You will not be able to love others. If you have no compassion for yourself then you are not able of developing compassion for others.”

“We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.”

“Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.”

“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.”

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”

“As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery… we have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace.”

“If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.”

“It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to desist from harming them.”

“Human potential is the same for all. Your feeling, ‘I am of no value’ . . . is wrong. Absolutely wrong. You are deceiving yourself. We all have the power of thought—so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can change anything. It is usually said that you are your own master.”

Maya Angelou, born 1928, is an American poet and author and is best known for her book “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” Angelou is lauded and respected for her autobiographical work in which she tells her own stories about her childhood and early adulthood that are real, painful and yet reflective and inspiring. She has received numerous awards and more than thirty doctoral degrees for her work. She was also coordinator for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an original cast member of Porgy and Bess and a journalist.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.”

“I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.”

“Love life, engage in it, give it all you’ve got, love it with a passion, because life truly does give back, many times over, what you put into it.”

“Nothing will work unless you do.”

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”

“You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off you.”

“If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love.”

“This is my life. It is my one time to be me. I want to experience every good thing.”

“The idea is to write it so that people hear it and it slides through the brain and goes straight to the heart.”

“I’ve learned that making a ‘living’ is not the same thing as making a ‘life.'”

“If you find it in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded.”

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”

“Love is like a virus. It can happen to anybody at any time.”

“Each of us has that right, that possibility, to invent ourselves daily. If a person does not invent herself, she will be invented. So, to be bodacious enough to invent ourselves is wise.”

“My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.”

“Women should be tough, tender, laugh as much as possible and live long lives”

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”

“One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”

“See, you don’t have to think about doing the right thing if you’re for the right thing then you’ll do it without thinking.”

Martin Luther King, Jr., (1929-1968) is best known as the prominent and prolific leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. King was also a Baptist minister and like Gandhi, he believed in nonviolent civil disobedience. He is also a national icon in the history of modern American liberalism. King delivered one of the most famous speeches in history called “I Have a Dream” in which he spoke about the rights of all people. In 1964, King received the Nobel Peace prize. Sadly, he was assassinated in 1968, and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold medal.

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”

“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

Mahatma Gandhi, (1869-1948) is most known for his belief and lifetime service of non-violent activism for the goals of a more peaceful world. Gandhi was the leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India, and through non-violent civil disobedience, he led India to independence. He assumed leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led campaigns to ease poverty, expanded women’s rights and increased economic self reliance. He is looked at by many as the symbolic and iconic image for non-violence and peace.

“I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.”

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

“In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.”

“They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them.”

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.”

“An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind.”

“All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family, and each one of us is responsible for the misdeeds of all the others. I cannot detach myself from the wickedest soul.”

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”

“Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn’t have it in the beginning.”

“Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress.”

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

“If we wish to create a lasting peace we must begin with the children.”

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”

“A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.”

“Non-violence which is a quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the brain.”

Deepak Chopra, born 1946 is one of the most beloved and famous holistic doctors in the world, best known for his alternative philosophy insofar as medicine and health; physically, mentally and spiritually. Born in India, Chopra has even been called a New Age Guru, but he is taken very seriously by people all over the world for his wise and calming advice. Chopra left his position at the NEMH and became the founding president of the American Association of Ayurvedic Medicine. Chopra has written numerous books and lectures to thousands of people every year throughout the world.

“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.”

“There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle.”

“Every person is a God in embryo. Its only desire is to be born.”

“Nothing is more important than reconnecting with your bliss. Nothing is as rich. Nothing is more real.”

“Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution.”

“The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years.”

“The secret of attraction is to love yourself. Attractive people judge neither themselves nor others. They are open to gestures of love. They think about love, and express their love in every action. They know that love is not a mere sentiment, but the ultimate truth at the heart of the universe.”

“It is the nature of babies to be in bliss.”

“The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers”

“If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue. Make a decision to relinquish the need to control, the need to be approved, and the need to judge. Those are the three things the ego is doing all the time. It’s very important to be aware of them every time they come up.”

“You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices.”

“If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue. Make a decision to relinquish the need to control, the need to be approved, and the need to judge. Those are the three things the ego is doing all the time. It’s very important to be aware of them every time they come up.”

“There are no extra pieces in the universe. Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill, and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle.”

“You can free yourself from aging by reinterpreting your body and by grasping the link between belief and biology.”

Anne Frank, (1929-1945) was and still is one of the most beloved young writers and people in history, and known for her diary she wrote called “Diary of a Young Girl” which she wrote while living in a concentration camp where she eventually died. Perhaps one of the most discussed and well known Jewish victims of the Holocaust, Frank’s diary has been the basis of numerous plays and films, and her book has been published in many languages and distributed throughout the world. Frank lost her citizenship in 1941 when Nazi, German passed anti-Semitic Nuremberg Laws.

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

“I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.”

“The final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands”

“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.”

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery and death.”

“I don’t think of all the misery, but of all the beauty that still remains”

“I must uphold my ideals, for perhaps the time will come when I shall be able to carry them out.”

“Whoever is happy will make others happy, too.”

“I simply can’t build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death … I think peace and tranquillity will return again.”

“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!”

“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.”

“No one has ever become poor by giving.”

~

Ed: Lynn Hasselberger

Like elephant spirituality on facebook.