Guy Finley Quotes

If somebody pisses me off and I understand it ain't personal then I'll go to another place and I'll meditate.

I didn't get to be successful by letting people hurt Blackstone or me.

Don't take anything personally. Even when a situation seems so personal, even if others insult you directly, it has nothing to do with you. Their point of view and opinion come from all the programming they received growing up. When you take things personally, you feel offended and your reaction is to defend your beliefs and create conflict. You make something big out of something so little because you have the need to be right and make everybody else wrong.

I'm polite. I guess that's the dichotomy within me. I don't like to piss people off just for the sake of pissing them off. I pick my battles.

Im not the type of person to point fingers at anybody, and I dont want anybody saying anything to me. There are situations where balls are bounced to your feet you dont say anything.

That my complicated life could be made so simple was astounding.

The best thing we can bring to any fight is a calm and compassionate mind.

To me, the most important thing was to treat people the way you want to be treated. Some people say that I'm a mean person. Well, you know what? The person that's saying that is probably a dipshit and I put them in their place! I have a knack for doing that.

I should just keep me mouth shut, I just upset people.

For a person who cherishes compassion and love, the practice of tolerance is essential, and for that, and enemy is indispinsable. So we should be grateful to our enemies, for it is they who can best help us to develop a tranquil mind.

Difficult People? I don't really know. I don't have those metrics.

When you practice meditation, the meditator becomes all-important and not the movement of meditation.

For a practitioner of love and compassion, an enemy is one of the most important teachers. Without an enemy you cannot practice tolerance, and without tolerance you cannot build a sound basis of compassion.

My last fight was more than 20 years ago. I'm not a fighter, I'm a lover. If somebody's going to speak bad about me, I will walk away. But if a guy like Steven Seagal slaps me once, I will slap him twice as hard. Life is full of violence.

Why get killed when you can run ... your ego will heal much faster than a broken jaw.

Sometimes...it's better for a man just to walk away. But if you can't walk away? I guess that's when it's tough.

Physical life is characterized by defensiveness, whereas spiritual life is just the opposite.

Do not do that again," he said stiffly. "Don't kiss me back then," I retorted. He stared at me for what seemed like forever. "I don't give 'Zen lessons' to hear myself talk. I don't give them because you're another student. I'm doing this to teach you control." "You're doing a great job," I said bitterly.

Don’t be stupid, Katra. Never speak in anger and never try to force your will onto someone else. You’ll never find peace in that. (Acheron)

You don't just walk out because you think someone has insulted you and your pride has been hurt.

A lot hinges on the fact that, in most circumstances, people are not allowed to hit you with a mallet. They put up all kinds of visible and invisible signs that say, 'Do not do this' in the hope that it'll work, but if it doesn't, then they shrug, because there is, really, no real mallet at all.

Do I want to be right or be happy?

Infinite altruism is the basis of peace and happiness. If you want altruism, you must control hate and you must practice patience. The main teachers of patience are our enemies.

The problem with taking offense is that it's really hard to figure out what to do with it after you're done using it. Better to just leave it on the table and walk away. Umbrage untaken quietly disappears.

Living simply makes loving simple.