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Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama Quotes

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Famous Dalai Lama Quotes

“If one's cause is supported by sound reasoning, there is no point in using violence. It is those who have no motive other than selfish desire and who cannot achieve their goal through logical reasoning who rely on force.”

IfsDesireForceCausesSoundGoalViolenceAchieveSelfishRelyMotiveReasoningLogicalNo PointSelfish DesireLogical Reasoning
Book:Imagine All the People: A Conversation with the Dalai Lama on Money, Politics, and Life As It Could Be
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“Because past environmental destruction was the result of ignorance, we can easily forgive it. Today, we are better informed. Therefore, it's essential that we make an ethical examination of what we have inherited, what we are responsible for, and what we will pass on to coming generations. Ours is clearly a pivotal generation. We have global communication and yet confrontation is more common than dialogue.”

TodayPastResultsCommonGenerationsIgnoranceCommunicationEssentialsDestructionResponsibleForgivingEnvironmentalDialogueEthicalExaminationConfrontationPivotalEnvironmental Destruction
Author:Dalai Lama
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“Taking care of our planet is like taking care of our houses. Since we human beings come from Nature, there is no point in our going against nature, which is why I say the environment is not a matter of religion or ethics or morality. These are luxuries, since we can survive without them. But we will not survive if we continue to go against nature.”

IfsHumansMatterCareHouseHuman BeingsEnvironmentPlanetsMoralityEthicsLuxuryOur PlanetNo Point
Author:Dalai Lama
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“If we choose an external marker as the measure of our inner worth, whether it is the amount of money we make, or others' opinion of us, or the success of some project we're involved in, sooner or later we're bound to be battered by life's inevitable changes. After all, money comes and goes, and thus is an unstable source of self-esteem, an unreliable foundation upon which to build our identity.”

IfsSelfOpinionSelf EsteemIdentitySourceAmountInvolvedProjectsFoundationBoundsEsteemInevitableSooner Or LaterComes And GoesUnstableUnreliableBatteredMarkersOthers OpinionsInevitable ChangeMoney Comes And Goes
Author:Dalai Lama
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“Misunderstanding may arise by confusing the Buddhist and scientific definitions of death. Within the scientific system you spoke quite validly of the death of the brain and the death of heart. Different parts of the body can die separately. However, in the Buddhist system, the word death is not used in that way. You'd never speak of the death of a particular part of the body, but rather of the death of an entire person. When people say that a certain person died, we don't ask, "Well, which part died?"”

PeopleWayWellsHeartMayPersonsDifferentBodyUsedCertainDiesAsksSpeakBrainParticularDiedDefinitionsAriseBuddhistSpokesMisunderstandingConfusingParts Of The Body
Author:Dalai Lama
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“... Our individual well-being is intimately connected both with that of all others and with the environment within which we live.... Our every action, our every deed, word, and thought, no matter how slight or inconsequential it may seem, has an implication not only for ourselves, but for all others, too.”

WellsMayMatterSeemsActionIndividualEnvironmentDeedsConnectedWell BeingImplicationsInconsequential
Book:Ancient Wisdom, Modern World: Ethics for the New Millennium
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“We had a rule in Tibet that anyone proposing a new invention had to guarentee that it was beneficial, or at least harmless, for seven generations of humans before it could be adopted.”

HumansGenerationsSevenInventionAdoptedBeneficialTibetNew Inventions
Book:Imagine All the People: A Conversation with the Dalai Lama on Money, Politics, and Life As It Could Be
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