I love reading Buddhist quotes.

They set me free from the pain I keep creating. They put an end to the destructive and harmful thoughts that invade my mind. They allow me to see reality—even if momentarily.

And it feels so damn good. It feels good to taste mindfulness, silence, and awareness. It actually feels great to feel a little stupid and realize that life is way simpler than we think.

We need Buddhist quotes. They remind us of our Buddha nature, which is innate, full of potential, and easy to access—if we so choose. Especially before the end of the year when fear might stand in our way, some quotes might fill us with the peace and comfort we desperately need.

The below quotes are from Buddhist writers, scholars, monks, and teachers. They’re full of wisdom and sincerity, but most of all, they’re full of love.

May these 14 Buddhist quotes bring you infinite joy:

1. “The more we want certain situations, the more we find ourselves stuck in situations we do not want.” ~ Kelsang Gyatso

2. “There should not be any particular teaching. Teaching is in each moment.” ~ Shunryu Suzuki

3. “What’s recommended is that if you have a good experience, don’t get too excited. And if you have a bad experience, don’t mistake it for a serious deviation or a sidetrack that you have to find your way back from. If you have a bad experience, just continue practicing as you were. In other words, whatever happens, just keep looking at your mind.” ~ Thrangu Rinpoche

4. “If it’s painful, you become willing not just to endure it but also to let it awaken your heart and soften you. You learn to embrace it.” ~ Pema Chödrön

5. “According to Shakyamuni Buddha, it’s normal for human beings to be anxious, because it’s normal for human beings not to understand themselves. When you don’t understand yourself, you’re uncomfortable and scared. When you realize that you’re anxious, Buddha’s teaching is to practice being patient with it.” ~ Reb Anderson

6. “When we seek happiness through accumulation, either outside of ourselves—from other people, relationships, or material goods—or from our own self-development, we are missing the essential point. In either case we are trying to find completion. But according to Buddhism, such a strategy is doomed. Completion comes not from adding another piece to ourselves but from surrendering our ideas of perfection.” ~ Mark Epstein

7. “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” ~ Alan Watts

8. “You ought to know how to rise above the trivialities of life, in which most people are found drowning themselves.” ~ D. T. Suzuki

9. “We must be willing to be completely ordinary people, which means accepting ourselves as we are without trying to become greater, purer, more spiritual, more insightful. If we can accept our imperfections as they are, quite ordinarily, then we can use them as part of the path. But if we try to get rid of our imperfections, then they will be enemies, obstacles on the road to our ‘self-improvement.'” ~ Chögyam Trungpa

10. “Mindfulness, by helping us notice our impulses before we act, gives us the opportunity to decide whether to act and how to act.” ~ Gil Fronsdal

11. “If one understands that the only thing that remains timeless is the richness of one’s own buddha nature, one can relax even with regard to death.” ~ Lama Ole Nydahl

12. “Learning how to love is the goal and the purpose of spiritual life—not learning how to develop psychic powers, not learning how to bow, chant, do yoga, or even meditate, but learning to love. Love is the truth. Love is the light.” ~ Surya Das

13. “We’re never called on to do what hurts. We just do what hurts out of ignorance and habit. Once we see what we’re doing, we can stop.” ~ Steve Hagen

14. “We all have the ability to study the causes of suffering and gradually to free ourselves from them…it is not the magnitude of the task that matters, it’s the magnitude of our courage.” ~ Matthieu Ricard

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