Pema Chodron Quotes

A great mind is one that can forget or look beyond itself.

I believe in servant leadership, and the servant always asks, 'Where am I needed most?'

I'm from the bottom, I understand what it's like to have and to not have. My perception on giving is to put yourself in those people's shoes and go from there. So that's what I did.

Compassionate action emerges from the sense of openness, connectedness, and discernment you have created.

It's human nature to want to help and soothe and save with your love, but it's also arrogant.

To desire and expect nothing for oneself and to have profound sympathy for others is genuine holiness.

I don't think of myself as doing good works. It's not, 'Oh, I must give these poor people a voice.'

True charity occurs only when there are no notions of giving, giver, or gift.

My strength needs no victims. My strength is my compassion.

All meditation must begin with arousing deep compassion. Whatever one does must emerge from an attitude of love and benefitting others.

Real strength has to do with helping others.

True compassion is not just an emotional response, but a firm commitment founded on reason. Therefore, a truly compassionate attitude toward others does not change, even if they behave negatively. Through universal altruism, you develop a feeling of responsibility for others: the wish to help them actively overcome their problems.

If you follow your heart, if you listen to your gut, and if you extend your hand to help another, not for any agenda, but for the sake of humanity, you are going to find the truth.

Compassion is not religious business, it is human business, it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival.

Helping others is the way we help ourselves.

When paying charity, one should smile and be humble, allowing the hand of the indigent to be above the giver's hand.

Meditation gives you more inner strength and confidence, and if you don't feel vulnerable, you can put that to the service of others. So it's not just about sitting and cultivating caring mindfulness. It's building up a way of being and then using it for the service of others.

I don't want to be a saint; I just want to help people.

Throwing away Zen mind is correct Zen mind. Only keep the question, 'What is the best way of helping other people?'

Helping another person gives one the deepest pleasure in the world.

Begin where you are and such as you are, without aiming mainly to become of more worth, and with kindness aforethought, go about doing good.

It’s in our interest to take care of others. Self-centrednes s is opposed to basic human nature. In our own interest as human beings we need to pay attention to our inner values. Sometimes people think compassion is only of help to others, while we get no benefit. This is a mistake. When you concern yourself with others, you naturally develop a sense of self-confidence . To help others takes courage and inner strength.

Giving feels good. It is a form of healing. Not just for you as an individual, but for everyone.

In our concern for others, we worry less about ourselves. When we worry less about ourselves an experience of our own suffering is less intense. What does this tell us? Firstly, because our every action has a universal dimension, a potential impact on others' happiness, ethics are necessary as a means to ensure that we do not harm others. Secondly, it tells us that genuine happiness consists in those spiritual qualities of love, compassion, patience, tolerance and forgiveness and so on. For it is these which provide both for our happiness and others' happiness.

We shouldn’t use our own upset as an excuse for not helping.