Dalai Lama quotes

from my page-a-day calendar (filtered and processed by Yours Truly)

selfish altruism, be a friend to have a friend;  justice, equality, and nonviolence; anger bad (deceptive); critical thinking good (reflect on dharma, make it your own); all sentient beings have commonality, and share things like desire for happiness and aversion to pain; basic goal: alleviate suffering and promote well-being (decrease misery, increase bliss); your country and your home are where the friends and love are; this small blue dot is all we got (earth is our shared little home); cultivate kindness, self-awareness, and self-discipline; emotional problems are temporary, superficial, and removable/fixable; prayer can be helpful, strengthening, and cause good feelings; dukkha and discontent are not always solved by the superficial pursuit of happiness; love and kindness need not be religious values, merely human values of goodness, virtue, and wellness;  peace and harmony, the absence of anger and violence, the presence of respect and compassion, exists within and between people, animals, and the environment; warmheartedness is both exterior actions and interior motivation; meditation transforms your mind, and with your mental qualities, your attitude and your life; injustice and repression are counteracted by the forces of freedom, democracy, and moderation;  true friends are forever, sharing closeness and intimacy despite changes and fluctuating fortunes; rational decision-making and proper judgment requires composure and not losing your temper, so don't become impatient or mad with anger; share what you've learned, one person can truly make a difference and be effective; we are not necessarily better than insects (humans, for example, have Guile-Deception); channel your mind and focus; criticize yourself, not others (look within); the best relationship has love exceeding need (for "each other"); inner peace, tranquility, and calmness effect personal (and social) happiness, equanimity in the face of external problems;  loving-kindness and care, affection, warmth - good, really good; we are all brothers and sisters, the oneness of humanity is not merely conceptual: people are the same in fundamental, basic ways - e.g. we all suffer; global education and training should teach us to have courage and be unafraid, and to use reason and analysis against destructive emotions like fear and suspicion that stem from self-centeredness; everyone needs love; be cool, calm, composed, and collected; be contemplative and content; jealousy is lousy; acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness, mercy, and compassion!; do not be deluded and embrace truth, science, facts, and reality; think less about yourself and more about others, to be happier; take helpful, meaningful actions and effort to make a better world and serve self and society; honesty, truthfulness, and self-confidence; attachment to things you are not willing to part with leads to suffering and should ideally be wished to be eventually given away...; friendship :-);  responsibility, sincerity, example, engagement, simplicity, patience, human welfare, cooperation, merit, faith and devotion, hope, trust, community, listening, generosity, humility, integrity, pleasant, beauty, vs. ignorance, exploitation, discrimination, bigotry, disrespect, resentment, deceit, humiliation, loneliness, conflict; the human right to happiness; we are all interdependent; vigorous, prosperous, skillful; ways and means to contentment, joy, happiness, bliss; love kindness compassion vs. anger hatred rage wrath fury spite malice revenge; self-actualization of already-existing internal wisdom: Enlightenment; all life can be perceived as a friend; mutual support and compassion (sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings and misfortunes of others) is reasonable; small is big (change yourself to change the world); life is a mix of failure and achievement; thoughts, words, and actions can be negative or positive, and are karmic (you get back what you give); the mind is most alert and clear in the morning; renunciation is non-attachment to the things of the world (not separation from it); all sentient beings can be perceived as equals - and the best of friends!; your brain and heart can be your temple, your religion/philosophy, kindness; no matter what language we speak, we all recognize and appreciate a smile; just as there is physical hygiene, there is also emotional hygiene (love and affection, not anger);  compassion goes beyond empathy as an active striving to free others from suffering; humanity should be humane;  Nirvana is freedom, liberation, cessation of dukkha, dissatisfaction, discontent, pain, agony, suffering, torment, misery, anguish, despair, ire, spite, malice, hostility, persecution, unwholesome patterns; The Ending of rebirth is the end of identification with/attachment to all ideas, thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions; hardship is an opportunity to learn and grow; gratitude is the most important quality to have toward your day; respect comes from both intelligence/knowledge and gentle kind altruism and compassion; don't care what others think (if you have self-respect, and are doing the right thing); marriages, even the best ones -perhaps especially the best ones- are an ongoing process of spoken and unspoken forgiveness; goodness, freedom, and happiness are linked; prayer, though tangibly psychologically beneficial, is no match for the achievements of science; contentment and satisfaction with what you have is a good state of mind to be in; meditation changes "thought-habits"; why be unhappy about something if it can be remedied?   And what is the use of being unhappy if it cannot be remedied?; bravery, courage, strength, righteousness, determination, and risk; every day is your birthday: every day is a new opportunity to begin again; (dare to) share and care; "know that just as the waves of the ocean are made of water, thoughts are made of the luminous, knowing nature of the mind"; meditation, reflection, and contemplation;  poverty and inequality, whether abject squalor or uncomfortable comparison, can be a source of discontent; disparity is a problem of dignity; (un)happiness depends on attitudes, perspectives, and reactions; we all have vulnerability; today's enemy may become tomorrow's friend; bdsm (buddha dharma sangha, mm); spiritual progress is potentially limitless; nature, the environment, conservation, stewardship, respect for life; seeking virtue and charity without reward; you can transplant a heart but you can't transplant a kind heart; the enemy is within (like pride); meet need (help happiness happen!); head and heart must be in balance; have a strong ego to be constructively of service to help all beings, without being egotistical; pursue noble goals without regret;  there are many many mysteries: science explains Reality only partially; leadership influences causes and conditions (of, say, conflict); disturbance and retaliation are your choice; bodhisattvas do not cherish self over others; if you are content you are truly rich, while a discontented billionaire remains unhappy; your perspective and meaning you give to things changes how you feel;  ideals and goals and objectives to strive for are important; use wealth well for welfare; challenges and tragedies can be opportunities to find your inner strength; peace starts with all of us, not just appointed or elected leaders; an open heart feels more pain but also more joy; buddhists strive to uproot the causes of suffering; sadists, the bloodthirsty, troublemakers are met with values (not necessarily academic education);  the causes and conditions (for suffering, or bliss) may be recent or ancient; obsession about getting or avoiding what you want or don't is a recipe for misery; we're all equal (self-importance is delusional) - that is to say, we're all equally (un)important; the antidote to a scattered mind is meditation; stability, focus, joy, wisdom, clarity, gentle abiding;  CIA: compassion in action (creative innovative ability) (closeness intimacy affection) (clinging ignorance aversion);  concentration, discipline, ethics, impermanence, emptiness;  it's not about mantras and rituals (it's about teachings, discipline, and practice);  laughter, humor, jokes, satire, comedy, fun, play, games, smiles - light hearted enlightenment :-) ; faith is not blind (faith say, in human nature, or the persistence of life to find a way); "sleep is the best meditation" (champion meditator?); confrontation and condemnation can heat up a situation and become explosive, whereas harmony comes from respect and cool heads; good qualities usually come in conjunction with other people;  willpower, effort, discipline, commitment, hard work;  knowledge, wisdom, understanding; optimism feels better; trust and friendship vs. anger, judgment, separation, loneliness, and alienation; future and past lives?;  gratitude to society and all the faceless individuals providing goods and services; buddhas, bodhisattvas, teachers, gurus, masters, and mentors; all beings have Buddha-Nature (the seed or potential for perfection); doubt, discouragement, self-hatred, hesitation are unwholesome and dangerous; "your enemy is your best friend"; silence is sometimes the best answer; accurate insights, not distortions; "learn the rules so you know how to break them properly"; endearment toward lovers, friends, neutrals, and even enemies; not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck; focus on gratitude over hassles; individual happiness is a component of greater social progress; the past is memory and the future imagination.