Dalai Lama Quotes

I want it to be said when I leave this world that 'he was not just a money-making machine.'

We only have so much life left. Before I do die, I want to do something good for people.

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

The necessary thing for anyone to be happy and contented as long as he lives is working for the ones who will come after him rather than working for himself... One can reach the true delight and happiness in the life only by working for the existence, honor, and happiness of the future generations.

The value of life is not in its duration, but in its donation.

A life is not worth much of which it cannot be said, when it comes to its close, that it was helpful to humanity.

My life is a contribution.

The measure of your life will not be in what you accumulate, but in what you give away.

If you want to live a long life, focus on making contributions.

The measure of life is not its duration, but its donation.

Leibniz dedicated his life to efforts to educate people to understand that true happiness is found by locating their identity in benefitting mankind and their posterity.

I think people get satisfaction from living for a cause that's greater than themselves. They want to leave an imprint. By writing books, I'm trying to do that in a modest way.

At the end of our lives we all ask, 'Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?'

I don't really care how I am remembered as long as I bring happiness and joy to people.

To desire and strive to be of some service to the world, to aim at doing something which shall really increase the happiness and welfare and virtue of mankind - this is a choice which is possible for all of us; and surely it is a good haven to sail for.

The purpose of human life and the sense of happiness is to give the maximum what the man is able to give.

Life is not accumulation, it is about contribution.

It's really not about me. At the end of the day, God willing, I'll have another 40 or 50 years on this planet, and what I'm saying to myself is, 'What do I want to leave here?'

We live our whole lives, and in our dying moment, we have to ask ourselves, 'What did we really care about? What impact did we make on the world?' The older I get, the more I realize the answers have to do with how we affect and love the people around us.

There's a fundamental question that everyone has to answer: What fraction of your life do you spend in service to your fellow man? It's not something that science helps you answer at all. It's one of these questions like, Who are you gong to marry? Science doesn't really help you with the question.

If you've made enough money where you're not worried about the rent or survival, you start asking yourself why you're on this planet. Your point is to do the most good you can before you die - well, I could do more good if I didn't die.

Life is short. Do whatever you can to help people - not for status, but because the 95-year-old you will be proud if you did help people and disappointed if you didn't.

If we talk about 'Groundhog Day' as a humanistic text - we only have one life, and there's no punishment or reward afterwards - then the wisdom is, just be kind because that will make you happy and the people around you happy.

I think most people want to be remembered with the causes they feel worthwhile and helped promote.

When all is said and done, I want to die exhausted and empty because I gave everything that was in me. I believe that's why we're all here: to give of ourselves to one another to help create a better world, because you can't take it with you.