Freedom from desire leads to inner peace. — Lao Tzu
Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. — Dalai Lama
Harmonizing opposites by going back to their source is the distinctive quality of the Zen attitude, the Middle Way: embracing contradictions, making a synthesis of them, achieving balance. — Taisen Deshimaru
The secret of happiness lies in the mind's release from worldly ties. — Buddha
Those who follow the Tao are of clear mind. They do not load their mind with anxieties and are flexible in their adjustment to external conditions. — Zhuangzi
The essence of the Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances. — Bodhidharma
The secret teaching was the bodhisattva ideal, to live for others, for the welfare of all beings. That's enlightenment, not some flashy state of luminosity. — Frederick Lenz
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. — Dalai Lama
Confused by thoughts, we experience duality in life. Unencumbered by ideas, the enlightened see the one Reality. — Huineng
Tea is more than an idealization of the form of drinking; it is a religion of the art of life. — Okakura Kakuzo
To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. — Lao Tzu
Nonresistance, nonjudgment, and nonattachment are the three aspects of true freedom and enlightened living. — Eckhart Tolle
Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires. — Lao Tzu
Buddhist Philosophy Quotes
Three things cannot long be hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. — Confucius
However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you If you do not act on upon them? — Buddha
"All conditioned things are impermanent" - when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering. — Buddha
Everything is energy and that's all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.
I follow four dictates: face it, accept it, deal with it, then let it go. — Sheng-yen
If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. — Buddha
My philosophy is: It's none of my business what people say of me and think of me. I am what I am and I do what I do. I expect nothing and accept everything. And it makes life so much easier.
To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue. — Buddha
A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker. — Buddha
Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill. — Buddha
To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent. — Buddha
Western Philosophy Quotes
Mathematics rightly viewed possesses not only truth but supreme beauty. — Bertrand Russell
In point of fact, Western philosophy has never set itself free of Christianity: wherever Christianity did not have a hand in the construction of modern philosophy it served instead as a stumbling block. — Jacques Maritain
The idea of the universe as an interconnected whole is not new; for millennia it's been one of the core assumptions of Eastern philosophies. What is new is that Western science is slowly beginning to realize that some elements of that ancient lore might be correct. — Dean Radin
Leisure is the mother of philosophy.
The gift of truth excels all other gifts. — Buddha
The search for something permanent is one of the deepest of the instincts leading men to philosophy. — Bertrand Russell
The distinctive principle of Western social philosophy is individualism. — Ludwig von Mises
Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy.
Go is to Western chess what philosophy is to double-entry accounting. — Trevanian
(on A History of Western Philosophy) I was sometimes accused by reviewers of writing not a true history but a biased account of the events that I arbitrarily chose to write of. But to my mind, a man without a bias cannot write interesting history - if, indeed, such man exists. — Bertrand Russell
Today the West is awakening to its wants; and the "true self of man and spirit" is the watchword of the advanced school of Western theologians. The student of Sanskrit philosophy knows where the wind is blowing from, but it matters not whence the power comes so longs as it brings new life. — Sayings
Since philosophy is the art which teaches us how to live, and since children need to learn it as much as we do at other ages, why do we not instruct them in it? — Michel de Montaigne
Ancient Philosophy Quotes
After the conversations about Indian philosophy, some of the ideas of Quantum Physics that had seemed so crazy suddenly made much more sense. — Werner Heisenberg
Do not say a little in many words but a great deal in a few. — Pythagoras
Every trace of the old philosophy and literatureof the ancient world has vanished from the face of the earth. — Saint John Chrysostom
Ancient philosophy proposed to mankind an art of living. By contrast, modern philosophy appears above all as the construction of a technical jargon reserved for specialists. — Pierre Hadot
According to the saying of an ancient philosopher, one should eat to live, and not live to eat — Moliere
(The Tao) is always present and always available. . . . If you are willing to be lived by it, you will see it everywhere, even in the most ordinary things. — Lao Tzu
...for the object of education is to teach us to love beauty. — Plato
Those whose hearts are fixed on Reality itself deserve the title of Philosophers. — Plato
An ingenious compound of desirability and appearance. Discovery of truth is the sole purpose of philosophy, which is the most ancient occupation of the human mind and has a fair prospect of existing with increasing activity to the end of time. — Ambrose Bierce
The food we ate was Indian, and both my mother and father were very deep into the ancient philosophy of India, so it could well have been an Indian household. — Amar Bose
He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions. — Confucius
I play basketball on Sundays and I'm a very spiritual guy; I read a lot of Eastern philosophy and I meditate. — Garry Shandling
To know yourself you need not go to any book, to any priest, to any psychologist. The whole treasure is within yourself. — Jiddu Krishnamurti
Gandhi became my role model. I have always been interested in Eastern philosophy. Since early in my life I've been fascinated by India, and I have spent a great deal of time traveling in that country. — Bianca Jagger
Study without reflection is a waste of time; reflection without study is dangerous. — Confucius
The fact is that you are not the body. The Self does not move but the world moves in it. You are only what you are. — Ramana Maharshi
If a man takes no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand. — Confucius
Men's natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them. — Confucius
I've been practicing modalities of Eastern philosophy since about 1972. What I've learned through my meditation is a sense of equanimity, a sense of all things being equal. — Goldie
Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment. — Lao Tzu
Study the past if you would define the future. I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there. Learning without thought is labor lost; thought without learning is perilous. — Confucius
Although I respect the Judeo-Christian ethic, as well as the Eastern philosophies, and of course the teachings of Muhammad, I find that organized religion has corrupted those beliefs to justify countless atrocities throughout the ages. Were I to go to church, I'd be a hypocrite. — Danny Masterson
I'm into a lot of Eastern philosophy. It's kind of like theosophy; it's about finding the relationships between all the great religions and focusing in on the good stuff. — Weyes Blood
I stepped away to find out more about myself, which I was having difficulty doing as a football player. I got a chance to travel the world. I studied Eastern philosophy, and I've grown as a person so much. — Ricky Williams
The life of Islamic philosophy did not terminate with Ibn Rushd nearly eight hundred years ago, as thought by Western scholarship for several centuries. Rather, its activities continued strongly during the later centuries, particularly in Persia and other eastern lands of Islam, and it was revived in Egypt during the last century. — Seyyed Hossein Nasr
What I’ve learned through my meditation is a sense of equanimity, a sense of all things being equal. — Goldie Hawn
Study the past if you would define the future. --CONFUCIUS — Steve Berry
Today, under the influences of Eastern religions and philosophies imported into the West, many Christians confuse God's Spirit with our spirit and think our spirit is a spark of the divine, "the God within everyone." That's not how the biblical writers thought about our spirits or souls. — Roger E. Olson
It's true that Eastern philosophy and religion were not unknown to me as a child, since my father has explored much in that area, and written books more or less in that area, too. — Quentin S. Crisp
A little exposure to the philosophy of many Eastern spiritual traditions - including yoga - could easily lead you to conclude that if you aspire to achieve goals in the material world you cannot fulfill yourself spiritually, or vice versa. However, since all of us, at some level, long for fulfillment in all aspects of our life, it is essential to understand that these two aims are not mutually exclusive. — Rod Stryker
The development of physics in the twentieth century already has transformed the consciousness of those involved with it. The study (of modern physics) produces insights into the nature of reality very similar to those produced by the study of eastern philosophy. — Gary Zukav
I think that we all at some point are in search of something - a higher power, whatever you want to call it, the meaning of life. I know I was, especially at even my son's age in my 20s, and dabbling in Eastern philosophies and yoga and Buddhism and Christianity and Islam. I kind of touched them all, you know, just trying to figure out the meaning of life or if nothing else, figure myself out. — Denzel Washington
My philosophy has always remained the same, it's about creating calm balanced environments based on Eastern cultures, ie order and creation of harmony. How people feel in a space is as important as the way it looks, one can't be without the other to succeed. — Kelly Hoppen
In Conclusion
Which quotation resonated with you best? Did you enjoy our collection of eastern philosophy quotes? Or may be you have a slogan about eastern philosophy to suggest. Let us know using our contact form.
Citation
Feel free to cite and use any of the quotes in this collection of eastern philosophy quotations. For popular citation styles(APA, Chicago, MLA), please use this citation page.
