Dalai Lama Quotes

At the root of all the harm we cause is ignorance.

Misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than malice and wickedness.

And I have again observed, my dear friend, in this trifling affair, that misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than even malice and wickedness. At all events, the two latter are of less frequent occurrence.

A man who makes trouble for others is also making trouble for himself.

Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm. But the harm does not interest them.

There is no such thing as a harmless truth.

Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.

Anybody can be very destructive in that position without at all meaning to be, and I know that I have been inadvertently destructive in the past for certain people on certain occasions.

Laws provide against injury from others, but not from ourselves.

Grains of error planted innocently in a well-kept greenhouse can become giant poisonous trees.

He's only harming himself who's bent upon harming another

Resentment gratifies him who intended an injury, and pains him unjustly who did not intend it.

There is far more danger of harm than there is hope of good in any radical changes.

A man's venom poisons himself more than his victims.

. . . it seems to me certain that more people are killed out of righteous stupidity than out of wickedness.

We are cruel enough without meaning to be.

He who plots to hurt others often hurts himself.

Few men know all the ill they do.

The Second Rule is that the greatest harm can result from the best intentions. It sounds a paradox, but kindness and good intentions can be an insidious path to destruction. Sometimes doing what seems right is wrong, and can cause harm. The only counter to it is knowledge, wisdom, forethought, and understanding the First Rule. Even then, that is not always enough.

Much mischief is done in the world with very little interest or design.

Often does hatred hurt itself.

Malice sucks up the greatest part of its own venom, and poisons itself.

And the evil wish is most evil to the wisher.

God save us always,' I said 'from the innocent and the good.

Stupidity and unconscious bias often work more damage than venality.