"A smile can be a kind of yoga practice, yoga of the mouth. You just smile, even if you don’t feel joy. And after you smile, you’ll see you feel differently. Sometimes the mind takes the initiative, and sometimes you have to allow the body to take the initiative. ... If we are not able to smile, then the world will not have peace." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Relax and Being Peace
"Meditation has two aspects. The first is stopping (shamatha in Sanskrit). We run throughout our whole life, chasing after some idea of happiness. Stopping means to stop our running, our forgetfulness, and our being caught in the past or the future. ... We think that happiness and well-being aren’t possible in the present. If you can stop and establish yourself in the here and the now, you will see that there are many elements of happiness available in this moment. ... The second aspect of meditation is looking deeply (vipashyana in Sanskrit) in order to see the true nature of things. ... Mindfulness is the continuous practice of touching deeply every moment of daily life. To be mindful is to be truly present with your body and your mind, to harmonize your intentions and actions, and to be in harmony with those around you." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Relax
"This is a happy moment. This mantra can be practiced at any moment. We have the tendency to forget the many conditions for happiness that are already available to us." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"I am here for you. Sometimes ... our loved one is sitting beside us but we have forgotten all about [them]. ... Our loved one is there physically but it’s as if [they're] not truly there. To love someone, you need to be there one hundred percent. The mantra “I am here for you” says that I care about you, I enjoy being in your presence. It helps the other person to feel supported and happy. ... We think that our loved one will be with us forever and we forget how precious [their] presence is in this moment. Once we’re really there for the other person, that person becomes something very real. When the other person is real, [they are] a wonderful manifestation of life and we need to let [them] know that, for [their] happiness and for our own." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"Many arguments and conflicts come about because we are so sure of our own thoughts and perceptions." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"Learn to nourish yourself and your loved ones with joy. Sometimes a kind word or two are enough to help them blossom like a flower. ... Our loved ones and relationships are like flowers that need regular watering to stay fresh and alive. If we do not water the other person’s flowers, our love or the relationship may wilt or die." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"When someone says something unkind to us and we don’t understand why, we may become upset. A knot is tied inside. ... We can learn the skill of recognizing a knot the moment it is tied in us, and we can find ways to untie it. If we give it our full attention as soon as it forms, while still loosely tied, untying it will be easy. Otherwise, it grows tighter and stronger with time and is more difficult to loosen. ... When you are in a new relationship, both people are still light, and have few knots. Misunderstandings are easy to clear up right away. But when we let things build up, many knots accumulate and we don’t know where to begin untying them. To protect each other’s happiness, we need to become aware of and communicate about our internal knots as soon as they arise." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"When we’re overcome by strong emotions we’re like a tree in a storm, with its top branches and leaves swaying in the wind. But the trunk of the tree is solid, stable, and deeply rooted in the earth. When we’re caught in a storm of emotions, we can practice to be like the trunk of the tree. We don’t stay up in the high branches. We go down to the trunk and become still, not carried away by our thinking and emotions." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"When you feel upset or angry, it’s important not to do or say anything. We need to calm down first. Don’t speak or act with the energy of anger in you. Just come back to your body and your breathing." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
"Optimism is a choice." — Unknown
"There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction." — John F. Kennedy
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." — Mahatma Gandhi
"By cleverly using new tools and mapping the unknown, we can redraw the line between the possible and the impossible." — Natalia Martinez Alpinist Magazine, Issue 75, "Living Maps of Patagonia: Toward a New Future of Exploration"
"There will always be another “there” that’s better than my “here”. The only way to find what I want is to be true and honest with myself. Settle into the experience rather than create drama like I so often do." — Susan Conrad Out There podcast, "With My Toes in the Sand"
"The Buddhist concept of the middle way refers to the balance between the extreme and the mundane. Somewhere in the middle is a balance of the two. “In ways you need to tug on both ends to realize the middle, because if you’re just in the middle all the time, it’s unsatisfying. You need extremes to find balance, you have to test both ends to actualize it." — Joe Grant via Annie Pokorny Adventure Journal, "Struggling With the Mundane After a Major Adventure Ends"
"Expectation is the cause of all disappointment." — Unknown
"Complaining is contagious, so I’m trying not to drive down that road anymore. I want to be the one at the wheel when people buckle up, grab the “oh shit” handle, and get ready for a weird and wild ride. Because life sucks sometimes, but not most of the time, and hitting the gas and going anyway is a whole lot better than complaining about it." — Steph Wright Oru Kayak, "Go Anyway"
"Just be your natural, horrid self." — 4th Doctor Doctor Who, "The Masque of Mandragora"
"It was as though my interpretation of reality wasn’t valid unless someone else confirmed it." — Jan Redford End of the Rope: Mountains, Marriage, and Motherhood
"Just because we have observed or experienced something doesn’t mean we should speak about it if doing so will make others suffer. When we see someone suffer because of something we have said, we say, “Well, I was only telling the truth.” It may have been the truth, but it may also have been unskillful and hurtful. Loving speech requires telling the truth in such a way that it benefits others, the world, and ourselves. When we tell the truth, we do so with compassion; we speak in such a way that the hearer can accept what we’re saying." — Thich Nhat Hanh How to Fight
