By Frederic Premji under Inspirational Quotes, Spirituality
The Dalai Lama has some very insightful verses. I’ve gathered my favorite quotes from the Tibetan leader about a variety of topics such as love, compassion, peace, humanity, violence, and the environment. It’s a very interesting read. Enjoy 
:
1- Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.
2- If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.
3- If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.
4- My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.
5- Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
6- The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual’s own reason and critical analysis.
7- We can live without religion and meditation, but we cannot survive without human affection.
8- We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.
9- Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.
10- If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.
11- If you don’t love yourself, you cannot love others. You will not be able to love others. If you have no compassion for yourself then you are not able of developing compassion for others.
12- Human potential is the same for all. Your feeling, “I am of no value”, is wrong. Absolutely wrong. You are deceiving yourself. We all have the power of thought - so what are you lacking? If you have willpower, then you can change anything. It is usually said that you are your own master.
13- We must recognize that the suffering of one person or one nation is the suffering of humanity. That the happiness of one person or nation is the happiness of humanity.
14- Through violence, you may ’solve’ one problem, but you sow the seeds for another.
15- As people alive today, we must consider future generations: a clean environment is a human right like any other. It is therefore part of our responsibility toward others to ensure that the world we pass on is as healthy, if not healthier, than we found it.
16- To conquer oneself is a greater victory than to conquer thousands in a battle.
17- There is a saying in Tibetan, “Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.”
No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.
18- The creatures that inhabit this earth-be they human beings or animals-are here to contribute, each in its own particular way, to the beauty and prosperity of the world.
19- A spoon cannot taste of the food it carries. Likewise, a foolish man cannot understand the wise man´s wisdom even if he associates with a sage.
20- In our struggle for freedom, truth is the only weapon we possess.
You may also be interested in this quick post I wrote a while back about a few verses from the Dalai Lama: Verses For Training The Mind
I’ve been going through the Dalai Lama’s Path to Tranquility, and thought to share a few verses from what inspired him to write that book: a work called the Eight Verses For Training The Mind. I want to point them out as to show how very different our world would be if we were to live according to those principles. Here are a few:
“When I see beings of wicked nature
overwhelmed by violent negative emotions and sufferings,
I shall hold such rare ones dear,
As if I have found a precious treasure.”
And this makes sense. Why let others bring us down to their level with their anger. Fill them with your love, brighten their darkness with your light, and watch their anger and violence dissipate. In our reality, we get dragged down into that darkness and fight with them. If only more of us would think about shining a light of good on their enemies instead of trying to destroy them, it would be one different reality indeed! Ok, here’s another:
“When in the company of others
I shall always consider myself the lowest of all,
and from the depth of my heart
Hold them dear and supreme.”
As if to say, there IS honor in being humble, in humility. Always making an effort to help others, instead of always being selfish and thinking of yourself first. Imagine how incredibly different things would be if you walked into your office tomorrow and everyone would practice this! Everyone would be nice to one another. And keep in mind, you put others before you, and they put you first in return, so it’s a positive-positive. There is a reason why it feels good inside when you help out someone. Perhaps we are meant to do this more?? Yet we don’t! Why don’t we do something that feels so good more frequently then? Things to ponder about indeed. Anyways, the Path to Tranquility is full of verses as such for everyday of the year, and its inspiration is called Eight Verses for Training the Mind. It’s very soothing to the soul and puts things into a more spiritual perspective. I highly recommend it 
