Sacred texts · Buddhism
48 Buddha quotes on the mind, calm and inner peace
“It is good to tame the mind, which is difficult to hold in and flighty, rushing wherever it listeth; a tamed mind brings happiness.” This verse of the Dhammapada (35) sums up an idea found throughout Buddhist texts: the mind can be tamed. This page gathers verses and sutta passages on thought, calm, serenity under blame and praise, the impermanence of all things, and loving-kindness.
The English quotes Max Müller’s Dhammapada (1881) and Bhikkhu Sujato’s translations of the Aṅguttara Nikāya, the Sutta Nipāta, the Udāna and the Itivuttaka, which he released into the public domain under CC0; the French page quotes Fernand Hû (1878). Every text was checked word for word against its source and keeps its reference. To put these quotes into practice, Selfia’s spiritual affirmations include phrases for meditation, and the main page of Buddha quotes has more verses.
Taming the mind
Chapter III, “Thought,” is about the mind (citta in Pali): hard to hold in, flighty, “rushing wherever it listeth” in Müller’s words. The verses compare it to a house whose ill-thatched roof lets the rain in, and to the elephant that the rider holding the hook brings back under control.
It is good to tame the mind, which is difficult to hold in and flighty, rushing wherever it listeth; a tamed mind brings happiness.
Let the wise man guard his thoughts, for they are difficult to perceive, very artful, and they rush wherever they list: thoughts well guarded bring happiness.
Those who bridle their mind which travels far, moves about alone, is without a body, and hides in the chamber (of the heart), will be free from the bonds of Mara (the tempter).
This mind of mine went formerly wandering about as it liked, as it listed, as it pleased; but I shall now hold it in thoroughly, as the rider who holds the hook holds in the furious elephant.
Be not thoughtless, watch your thoughts! Draw yourself out of the evil way, like an elephant sunk in mud.
As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind.
As rain does not break through a well-thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind.
A well-directed mind
Two twin verses (Dhp 42–43) say that a wrongly directed mind does more harm than an enemy, and a well-directed mind more good than a father or mother. A sutta of the Aṅguttara Nikāya adds that the mind is radiant, and can be freed from corruptions that come from outside.
Whatever a hater may do to a hater, or an enemy to an enemy, a wrongly-directed mind will do us greater mischief.
Not a mother, not a father will do so much, nor any other relative; a well-directed mind will do us greater service.
“This mind, mendicants, is radiant. And it is freed from visiting corruptions. A learned noble disciple truly understands this. So I say that the learned noble disciple has development of the mind.”
“If, mendicants, a mendicant cultivates a mind of love even as long as a finger-snap, they’re called a mendicant who does not lack absorption, who follows the Teacher’s instructions, who responds to advice, and who does not eat the country’s alms in vain. How much more so those who make much of it!”
If a man hold himself dear, let him watch himself carefully; during one at least out of the three watches a wise man should be watchful.
Rouse thyself by thyself, examine thyself by thyself, thus self-protected and attentive wilt thou live happily, O Bhikshu!
For self is the lord of self, self is the refuge of self; therefore curb thyself as the merchant curbs a good horse.
Self is the lord of self, who else could be the lord? With self well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few can find.
“A wrongly directed mind would do you more harm than a hater to the hated, or an enemy to their foe.”
Buddha quotes on calm and serenity
Chapter VI, “The Wise Man,” compares the one who has understood to a solid rock unshaken by the wind, and to a deep, smooth, still lake. These verses describe a serenity that doesn’t depend on circumstances, one that neither blame nor praise can move.
Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like); fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves.
As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, wise people falter not amidst blame and praise.
Wise people, after they have listened to the laws, become serene, like a deep, smooth, and still lake.
Good people walk on whatever befall, the good do not prattle, longing for pleasure; whether touched by happiness or sorrow wise people never appear elated or depressed.
His thought is quiet, quiet are his word and deed, when he has obtained freedom by true knowledge, when he has thus become a quiet man.
A Bhikshu who has entered his empty house, and whose mind is tranquil, feels a more than human delight when he sees the law clearly.
He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind: the sage rejoices always in the law, as preached by the elect (Ariyas).
The diligent sage wandering alone, is unshaken by blame and praise—like a lion not startled by sounds, like wind not caught in a net, like water not sticking to a lotus. Leader of others, not by others led: that’s who the attentive know as a sage.
“As a rocky mountain is unwavering and well grounded, so when delusion ends, a monk, like a mountain, doesn’t tremble.”
“One whose mind is like a rock, steady, never shaking, free of desire for desirable things, not getting annoyed when things are annoying: from where will suffering strike one whose mind is developed like this?”
Steady as a post in a bathing-place when others speak endlessly against them, freed of greed, with senses stilled: that’s who the attentive know as a sage.
Impermanence and letting go
Gain and loss, fame and disgrace, pleasure and pain: a sutta of the Aṅguttara Nikāya (8.5) recalls that all of them pass. The Dhammapada draws an invitation from this, to look on the world as a bubble or a mirage, and to empty your boat of what weighs it down.
Gain and loss, fame and disgrace, blame and praise, and pleasure and pain. These qualities among mankind are impermanent, transient, and perishable.
An intelligent and mindful person knows these things, seeing that they’re perishable. Desirable things don’t disturb their mind, nor are they repelled by the undesirable. Both favoring and opposing are cleared and disappeared, they are no more. Knowing the stainless, sorrowless state, they who have gone beyond rebirth understand rightly.
Mendicants, whether Realized Ones arise or not, this law of nature persists, this regularity of natural principles, this surety of natural principles: all conditions are impermanent.
Look upon the world as a bubble, look upon it as a mirage: the king of death does not see him who thus looks down upon the world.
Come, look at this glittering world, like unto a royal chariot; the foolish are immersed in it, but the wise do not touch it.
He who overcomes this fierce thirst, difficult to be conquered in this world, sufferings fall off from him, like water-drops from a lotus leaf.
As the Vassika plant sheds its withered flowers, men should shed passion and hatred, O ye Bhikshus!
O Bhikshu, empty this boat! if emptied, it will go quickly; having cut off passion and hatred thou wilt go to Nirvana.
Him I call indeed a Brahmana who does not cling to pleasures, like water on a lotus leaf, like a mustard seed on the point of a needle.
Him I call indeed a Brahmana who, even here, knows the end of his suffering, has put down his burden, and is unshackled.
The sage is independent everywhere, they don’t form likes or dislikes. Lamentation and stinginess slip off them like water from a leaf. Like a droplet slips from a lotus-leaf, like water from a lotus flower; the sage doesn’t cling to that which is seen or heard or thought.
Don’t relish the old, or welcome the new. Don’t grieve for what is running out, or get attached to things that pull you in.
What came before, let wither away, and after, let there be nothing. If you don’t grasp at the middle, you will live at peace.
One who seeks their own happiness would pluck out the dart from themselves—the wailing and praying, and sadness inside. With dart plucked out, unattached, having found peace of mind, overcoming all sorrow, one is sorrowless and quenched.
A boundless heart: the Metta Sutta
The Metta Sutta (Sutta Nipāta 1.8) is one of the best-known Buddhist texts on loving-kindness, mettā. It asks for a heart without limits toward every being, “Even as a mother would protect with her life her child.” A passage on the heart’s release by love (Itivuttaka 27) and a verse on kindness for the world (Udāna 2.1) close the group.
Those who are skilled in the meaning of scripture should practice as follows to realize the state of peace. Let them be capable and upright, very upright, easy to speak to, gentle and humble; content and unburdensome, unbusied, living lightly, alert, with senses calmed, courteous, not fawning on families.
May they be happy and safe! May all beings be happy!
Whatever living creatures there are with not a one left out—frail or firm, long or large, medium, small, tiny or round, seen or unseen, living far or near, those who have been born and those about to be born—may all beings be happy!
Even as a mother would protect with her life her child, her only child, so too for all creatures unfold a boundless heart. With love for the whole world, unfold a boundless heart: above, below, all round, unconstricted, without enmity or foe.
When standing, walking, sitting, or lying down while yet unweary, keep this ever in mind; for this, they say, is a divine meditation in this life.
Mendicants, of all the grounds for making worldly merit, none are worth a sixteenth part of the heart’s release by love. Surpassing them, the heart’s release by love shines and glows and dazzles.
“Seclusion is happiness for the contented who see the teaching they have learned. Kindness for the world is happiness for one who’d not harm a living creature. Dispassion for the world is happiness for one who has gone beyond sensual pleasures. But dispelling the conceit ‘I am’ is truly the ultimate happiness.”
How to meditate with these quotes
Choose a short verse, such as the one on taming the mind (Dhp 35), and read it before sitting in silence for a few minutes. When your attention wanders off, bring it back gently, without judging yourself: that is the very exercise verse 326 describes with the image of the rider and the elephant.
The verses on blame and praise are for the daytime: reread them after a criticism or a compliment, to weigh it at its real value. The group on impermanence suits the evening better, when you sort out what really mattered. The Metta Sutta can be read slowly, one line per breath.
In the Selfia app, the Buddhism path (Settings › Spirituality) adds Buddhist texts in a separate section, and the animated meditation offers guided breathing without voice.
Frequently asked questions
What did the Buddha say about the mind?
The Dhammapada devotes its third chapter to thought, citta in Pali: hard to restrain, it can be tamed, and a tamed mind brings happiness (Dhp 35). The very first verse of the collection, not included here, goes further: Müller translates it “All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”
What is impermanence in Buddhism?
Impermanence, anicca in Pali, is one of the three characteristics of existence, along with suffering and not-self: everything that is conditioned changes and passes away. The Aṅguttara Nikāya sutta quoted on this page (3.136) puts it plainly: “all conditions are impermanent,” whether Buddhas arise or not.
What is the Metta Sutta?
It is a short discourse of the Sutta Nipāta (1.8) on mettā, loving-kindness, often called the Karaṇīya Metta Sutta. It describes how to live “to realize the state of peace” and wishes happiness to all beings without exception, comparing that love to a mother protecting her only child. Its verses are in the last group of this page.