Matthieu Ricard Quotes

The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.

We acquire the strength we have overcome.

I suffered evils, but without allowing them to rob me of the freedom to expand.

Courage is the capacity to meet the anxiety which arises as one achieves freedom.

People aren't born strong. People grow stronger little by little, encountering difficult situations, learning not to run from them.

I had to suffer, I had to fight, and now I feel great.

We stumble and fall constantly, even when we are most enlightened.

Money doesn't bring courage, I learned. It's the other way around. Once I took that lesson to heart, I began to rebuild my life.

A spirit cannot soar with only one wing.

No matter where we live on the planet or how difficult our situation seems to be, we have the ability to overcome and transcend our circumstances.

Strength, strength is what the Upanishads speak to me from every page. This is the one great thing to remember, it has been the one great lesson I have been taught in my life; strength, it says, strength, O man, be not weak. Are there no human weaknesses? - says man. There are, say the Upanishads, but will more weakness heal them, would you try to wash dirt with dirt? Will sin cure sin, weakness cure weakness? Strength, O man, strength, say the Upanishads, stand up and be strong.

A man was defined not by his flaws, but by how he overcame them.

It is not just a person's physical constitution, their intellegence, their education, or even their social conditioning that enables them to withstand hardship. Much more significant is their inner development. And while some may be able to survive through sheer willpower, the ones who suffer the least are those who have a high degree of patience and courage in the face of adversity.

When I planted my pain in the field of patience it bore fruit of happiness.

In times of hurt and discouragement, it may be consoling for all of us to recall that no one can do anything permanently to us that will last for eternity. Only we ourselves can affect our eternal progression.

I am inviting you to go deeper, to learn and to practice so that you become someone who has a great capacity for being solid, calm, and without fear, because our society needs people like you who have these qualities, and your children, our children, need people like you, in order to go on, in order to become solid, and calm, and without fear.

As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation -- either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.

We are all stronger than we can ever imagine being. Every choice matters starting with today. And today, I choose to live.

Just be free, and at least you will go through adversity with a stronger mind, and therefore, you'll be less affected, and pain will affect you less.

It's life, so you're a constant evolution of tragedies and achievements and ups and downs. You can probably get a little bit more immune to things, but whatever is the most amount of pain you feel at any given moment feels like the most amount of pain you'll ever feel.

I have been compelled to dig deep inside and pull out strengths I never knew I possessed in order to protect my family.

You find strength in your moments of weakness.

I have a duty to speak the truth as I see it and share not just my triumphs, not just the things that felt good, but the pain, the intense, often unmitigated pain. It is important to share how I know survival is survival and not just a walk throught the rain.

Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born.

Letting go is fearless. Then, moving on and being alright, that’s fearless too.