There are lots of bogus Buddha quotes or sayings all over the places. From Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter to established quotation sites, books, magazines, mugs, T-shirts, posters and other paraphernalia.
Anyway, here I have gathered a long list of quotations which are either wrongly attributed to Buddha, or the original quotes that have been “tempered with” to make them more pithy and catchy.
To counter check whether the so-called Buddha quotes are genuine, just press the key “Ctrl” and key “F” simultaneously on your keyboard.
Then copy and paste your quote in the empty box at the bottom of your computer screen.
Bogus Buddha Quotes
If your quote matches with one of the fake Buddha quotes in the list below, automatically it would be highlighted on the list.
“On the long journey of human life, faith is the best of companions; it is the best refreshment on the journey; and it is the greatest property.”
“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.”
“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”
“Imagine that every person in the world is enlightened but you. They are all your teachers, each doing just the right things to help you learn perfect patience, perfect wisdom, perfect compassion.”
“Life is a bridge. Don’t build a house on it”
“Your days pass like rainbows, like a flash of lightning, like a star at dawn. Your life is short. How can you quarrel?”
“The instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.”
“True love is born from understanding”
“No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”
“When someone goes wrong, it is right for his real friends to move him, even by force, to do the right thing.”
“The kingdom of heaven is closer than the brow above the eye but mankind does not see it.”
“No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.”
“If you do not find the solution where you stand where else shall you find it?”
“The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.”
“You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger.”
“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear.”
“The heart is like a garden: it can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. What seeds will you plant there?”
“Awake. Be the witness of your thoughts. You are what observes, not what you observe.”
“To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.”
“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.”
“To force oneself to believe and to accept a thing without understanding is political, and not spiritual or intellectual.”
“Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.”
“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.”
“There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.”
“To understand everything is to forgive everything.”
“The tongue like a sharp knife, kills without drawing blood.”
“If you propose to speak, always ask yourself, is it true, is it necessary, is it kind?”
“Happiness does not depend on what you have or who you are, it solely relies on what you think.”
“Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.”
“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way, and not starting.”
“Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.”
“I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.”
“Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”
“It is better to travel well than to arrive.”
“A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things that renew humanity.”
“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.”
“The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.”
“When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”
“Never allow yourself to envy others. For you will lose sight of the truth that way.”
“In the sky there is no distinction of east and west; people create the distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.”
“When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.”
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
“You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself.”
“In separateness lies the world’s great misery, in compassion lies the world’s true strength.”
“In every trial let understanding fight for you.”
“My actions are my only true belongings: I cannot escape their consequences. My actions are the ground on which I stand.”
“The moment we are enlightened within, we go beyond the voidness of a world confronting us.”
“The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There’s only one moment for you to live.”
“Remembering a wrong is like carrying a burden on the mind.”
“The moment you know how your suffering came to be, you are already on the path of release from it.”
“You have no cause for anything but gratitude and joy.”
“The moment we are enlightened within, we go beyond the voidness of a world confronting us.”
“The secret of happiness lies in the mind’s release from worldly ties.”
“As rain falls equally on the just and unjust, do not burden your heart with judgments but rain your kindness equally upon all.”
“It is possible to live happily in the present moment. It is the only moment we have.”
“Life has no meaning in itself but it is itself an opportunity to make it meaningful.”
“If we could understand a single flower we could understand the whole universe.”
“It would be true to say that loving kindness and compassion is all of our practice.”
“Rule your mind or it will rule you.”
“You stand at the crossroads of the path of love and the path of fear. Which do you choose to follow?”
“All descriptions of reality are temporary hypotheses.”
“There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.”
“Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”
“When you like a flower, you just pluck it. But when you love a flower, you water it daily.”
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.”
“All things appear and disappear because of causes and conditions.”
“However many holy words you speak however many you read, what good will they do you if you do not act on them?”
“Every place is here and every moment is now.”
“Crying with the wise is better than laughing with the fool.”
“Who is your enemy? Mind is your enemy. Who is your friend? Mind is your friend.”
“All worldlings are mad.”
“Your body is precious. It is your vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care.”
“Kindness should be the natural way of life, not the exception.”
“Whatever is well said is a saying of the Blessed One.”
“Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others.”
“The no-mind not-thinks no-thoughts about no-things.”
“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think.”
“If you want to fly, give up everything that weighs you down.”
“They are not following dharma who resort to violence to achieve their purpose”
“To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.”
“Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals.”
“Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant with the weak and wrong. Sometime in your life, you will have been all of these.”
“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind.”
“To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.”
“Regardless of the shadows that cross the moon to make it appear less than it is, to the moon, it is always full. So it is with us.”
“If you want to know the past, look at your present. If you want to know the future, look at your present.”
“Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two.”
“There is pleasure and there is bliss. Forgo the first to possess the second.”
“The greatest goodness is a peaceful mind. The greatest worth is self-mastery.”
“What you think you create, what you feel you attract, what you imagine you become.”
“It is not because no one sees the truth that it becomes an error.”
“If you cannot find a good companion to walk with, walk alone, like an elephant roaming the jungle. It is better to be alone than to be with those who will hinder your progress.”
“Real peace and happiness has to come from the heart, from within.”
“Tune as the sitar neither low nor high, And we will dance away the hearts of men.”
“Change is never painful, only the resistance to change is painful.”
“When you meet your ‘soul mate’ you’ll feel calm.”
“To those in whom love dwells, the whole world is but one family.”
“Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little.”
“Follow then the shining ones, the wise, the awakened, the loving, for they know how to work and forbear.”
“Do not learn how to react. Learn how to respond.”
“Always be mindful of the kindness and not the faults of others.”
“Meditate. Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine.”
“We have to understand the middle path: That a human has a positive and a negative side. We have a false, ignorant side, but we also have a beautiful potential – Buddha nature.”
“It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.”
“Those who are awake live in a state of constant amazement.”
“The inclination to accept unverified opinion simply because of currency or familiarity is a dangerous human weakness that is instrumental in self-deception, and easily exploited for the deception of others.”
“If you light a lamp for someone else, it will also brighten your own path.”
“If you want to draw water you do not dig six one-foot wells. You dig one six-foot well.”
“It is not what others do or do not do that is my concern. It is what I do and do not do — that is my concern.”
“Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes it undrinkable. In a lake almost unnoticed.”
“The thought manifests as the word; The word manifests as the deed; The deed develops into habit; And habit hardens into character.”
“In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how gently you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you.”
“Our life is the creation of our mind.”
“I thank you. You are my masters. From you I have learned more than from all the writings of the Brahmans.”
“The forest is a peculiar organism of unlimited kindness and benevolence…”
“When the student is ready the teacher will appear.”
“A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another.”
“Our theories of the eternal are as valuable as are those which a chick which has not broken its way through its shell might form of the outside world.”
“Every experience, no matter how bad it seems, holds within it a blessing of some kind. The goal is to find it.”
“Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.”
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it…”
“If you truly loved yourself, you could never hurt another.”
“You throw thorns—falling in my silence they become flowers.”
“He is able who thinks he is able.”
“Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of harming another; you end up getting burned.”
“The wise ones fashioned speech with their thought, sifting it as grain is sifted through a sieve.”
“Success is not the key to happiness; happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
“Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.”
“As you walk and eat and travel, be where you are. Otherwise you will miss most of your life.”
“The greatest prayer is patience.”
“Since everything is a reflection of our minds, everything can be changed by our minds.”
“Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.”
“When you move your focus from competition to contribution life becomes a celebration. Never try to defeat people, just win their hearts.”
“If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking.”
“Your purpose in life is to find your purpose and give your whole heart and soul to it.”
“In order to gain anything you must lose everything.”
“The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play…”
“Wear your ego like a loose fitting garment.”
“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the single candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”
“My doctrine is not a doctrine but just a vision. I have not given you any set rules, I have not given you a system.”
“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little…”
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.”
“He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.”
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”
“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
“We’re the same as plants, trees, other people, the rain that falls. We consist of that [which] is around us, we’re the same as everything.”
“Happiness is not having a lot. Happiness is giving a lot.”
“Everything that has a beginning, has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.”
“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.”
“The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.”
“An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body but an evil friend will wound your mind.”
“The trouble is, you think you have time.”
“In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins; not through strength, but through perseverance.”
“I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.”
“Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.”
“Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.”
“There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people….”
“If your compassion does not include yourself it is incomplete.”
“Our sorrows and wounds are healed only when we touch them with compassion.”
“Be vigilant; guard your mind against negative thoughts.”
“Doubt everything. Find your own light.”
“There has to be evil, so that good can prove its purity above it.”
“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
“What’s the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?”
“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.”
“Do not overrate what you have received, or envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.”
“You only lose what you cling to.”
“As a candle cannot burn without fire, so men cannot live without a spiritual life.”
“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”
“Without health life is not life; it is only a state of langour and suffering – an image of death.”
“Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.”
“Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.”
“Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.”
“In the end these things matter most: How well did you love? How fully did you live? How deeply did you let go?”
“Rage is a powerful energy that with diligent practice can be transformed into fierce compassion.”
“Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.”
“All things are perfect exactly as they are.”
“Meditate. Live purely. Quiet the mind. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine.”
Note: This is a growing list.
If I find any new false Buddha quotes or those which have been altered, I would have them added in here.
Here is my collection of authentic verified Buddha quotes.