Pema Chodron Quotes

Doing the right thing for someone else was like a tonic for me; it was like some magic ointment that made a wound disappear.

I made a promise to myself to be kinder to other people.

When I treat other people with kindness and love, it is part of my way of paying my debt to God and the world for the privilege of living on this planet.

He gives me a little shrug, like, of course, why else? And at this point, I really have no right to be surprised by people's capacity for kindness and generosity, but still, I am. I'm floored every time.

Happiest are the people who give most happiness to others.

I suspect that the happiest people you know are the ones who work at being kind, helpful and reliable - and happiness sneaks into their lives while they are busy doing those things. It is a by-product, never a primary goal.

Let's be the kind of people that do good for others whether we get paid back or not, whether they say thank you or not.

Some people don't know what to do with an act of kindness.

That's when I feel most alive, when I'm helping people.

My mother said the cure for thinking too much about yourself was helping somebody who was worse off than you.

Charity, patience and tenderness are very beautiful gifts. If you have them, you want to share them with others.

You can only give away what you have ... If you have love, you can give it. If you don't have it, you don't have it to give.

We help other people because we can, or because it makes us feel good, not because we're counting on some future payback. There is a word for this; love.

Having a kind heart, you care about everybody else. You don't eat everything. Don't be a big. People in the community, be nice. As coaches, we want to see guys develop those kind of things, take those things with them when they leave our programs.

There is no greater enjoyment than that of sharing something. Have you given something to somebody? That's why people enjoy giving gifts so much. It is a sheer delight. When you give something to somebody - maybe valueless, may not be of much value - but just the way, just the gesture that you give, satisfies tremendously. Just think of a person whose whole life is a gift! whose every moment is a sharing - he lives in heaven. There is no other heaven than that.

Who is the happiest man? He who is alive to the merit of others, and can rejoice in their enjoyment as if it were his own.

If I am only happy for myself, many fewer chances for happiness. If I am happy when good things happen to other people, billions more chances to be happy!

Acts 10:38 says, “See how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth who went about doing good.” He just got up every day and did good. Everywhere he went, even though he had a purpose and he was headed somewhere, he let himself be interrupted by the needs of people. So often we study the steps of Jesus. Maybe we need to study the stops of Jesus. The things that he stopped for, the things that interrupted his plan, where he would alter his plan and help somebody here and there.

The greatest joys in life are found not only in what we do and feel, but also in our quiet hopes and labors for others.

Growing up, all I saw was my parents trying to be the best people they could be, and people coming to them for wisdom, coming to them for guidance, and them not putting themselves on a pedestal, but literally being face-to-face with these people and saying, "I'm no better than you, but the fact that you're coming to me to reach some sort of enlightenment or to shine a light on something, that makes me feel love and gratitude for you." They always give back what people give to them. And sometimes they keep giving and giving and giving.

It isn't enough to love people because they're good to you, or because in some way or other you're going to get something by it. We have to love because we love loving.

I want people to know that on the other side of the world - and even in your own country or on your own street - there are people who need something that you can give them.

Absorption in things other than self is the secret of a happy life.

The happiest people are the most giving people

In a nutshell, when life is pleasant, think of others. When life is a burden, think of others.