As a cowherd with a rod
drives cows to the field,
so ageing and death
drive the life of living beings.
- Dhammapada [135]

“You tell me to stand still, but I am not walking,” he shouted, “whereas you who are walking say you are still. How is it that you are standing still but I am not?”

The Buddha turned round. “My legs move but my mind is still,” he said. “Your legs are still but your mind moves all the time in a fire of anger, hatred, and feverish desire. Therefore, I am still but you are not.”

- Majjhima Nikaya

Drinking the Dhamma, refreshed by the Dhamma, one sleeps at ease with clear awareness & calm. In the Dhamma revealed by the noble ones, the wise person always delights.

- Dhammapada [6]

Life’s easy to live
for someone unscrupulous,
cunning as a crow,
corrupt, back-biting,
forward and brash;

But for someone who’s constantly
scrupulous, cautious,
observant, sincere,
pure in his livelihood,
clean in his pursuits,
it’s hard.

- Dhammapada [18]

A Brahman named Sangarava bathed every morning and evening in the river so that he could be cleansed from whatever sin he might have committed during the day. To him, the Buddha said, “If bathing could purify one from sins, then all the frogs, turtles, and crocodiles would be free from sin! The real lake is the lake of goodness, with grace as its shore for bathing. Clear and undefiled, it soothes all who immerse themselves. Plunge into the waters of goodness and learn to swim.”
- Samyutta Nikaya

Arouse your will, supreme and great,
Practice love, give joy and protection;
Let your giving be like space,
Without discrimination or limitation.

Do good things, not for your own sake
But for all the beings in the universe;
Save and make free everyone you encounter,
Help them attain the wisdom of the way.
- Prajnaparamita

It’s not good,
the doing of the deed
that, once it’s done,
you regret,
whose result you reap crying,
your face in tears.

It’s good,
the doing of the deed,
that, once it’s done,
you don’t regret,
whose result you reap gratified,
happy at heart.

- Dhammapada [5]

“Where, for instance, is the identity of myself? There’s a special quality that makes me different from everything else and also from all other selves. And I want that identity, my own self, to continue. So where does that identity dwell?”

“Where indeed?” asked the Buddha. “That self to which you cling is in constant change. Years ago you were a baby, then a youth, and now a man. Which is your true self—that of yesterday, that of today, or that of tomorrow which you so long to preserve?”

“I see I have misunderstood things,” replied Kutadanta slowly, “and although I find it hard to endure the light, the truth now dawns on me that there is no separate and enduring self. I will take my refuge in your teaching and find that which is continuing and everlasting in the truth.”

- Majjhima Nikaya

Regard him as one who points out treasure, the wise one who seeing your faults rebukes you.
Stay with this sort of sage.
For the one who stays with a sage of this sort, things get better, not worse.
- Dhammapada [6]

defilements are like a cat. If you feed it, it will keep coming around. Stop feeding it, and eventually it will not bother to come around any more.
- Ajahn Chah [Still Forest Pool]