nagarjuna Quotes

“Property is unstable, and youth perishes in a moment. Life itself is held in the grinning fangs of Death, Yet men delay to obtain release from the world. Alas, the conduct of mankind is surprising.”

“Those who speak ill of the spiritual life, Although they come and go by day, Are like the smith's bellows: They take breath but are not alive.”

“This body, full of faults, Has yet one great quality: Whatever it encounters in this temporal life Depends upon one's actions.”

“The foolish are like ripples on water, For whatsoever they do is quickly effaced; But the righteous are like carvings upon stone, For their smallest act is durable.”

“Whoever benefits his enemy with straightforward intention that man's enemies will soon fold their hands in devotion.”

“Although you may spend your life killing, You will not exhaust all your foes. But if you quell your own anger, your real enemy will be slain.”

“An anthill increases by accumulation. Medicine is consumed by distribution. That which is feared lessens by association. This is the thing to understand.”

“The career of a sage is of two kinds: He is either honored by all in the world, Like a flower waving its head, Or else he disappears into the silent forest.”

“If you desire ease, forsake learning.”

“Method is more important than strength, when you wish to control your enemies. By dropping golden beads near a snake, a crow once managed To have a passer-by kill the snake for the beads.”