> explore
Find wisdom by theme or search for a word or phrase.
> browse by theme
abundance
acceptance
accountability
achievement
action
adaptability
adaptation
adversity
alan-watts
all-beings
ambition
anarchy
ancient-masters
anger
anxiety
appearances
application
appreciation
art
aspiration
authenticity
awakening
awareness
balance
beauty
before-heaven-and-earth
beginner
beginnings
being
beyond-thought
beyond-words
blessing
blue-cliff-record
boasting
body
book-of-serenity
bravery
breakthrough
breath
brevity
buddha-nature
care
cause-effect
caution
centeredness
centre
change
character
child-like
childlike
choice
chuang-tzu
circumstance
clarity
communication
community
compassion
complementarity
completeness
completion
complexity
concepts
conduct
conflict
connection
consciousness
consequence
consequences
conserving-energy
consistency
constancy
contemplation
contentment
continuity
control
cooperation
corruption
cosmology
cosmos
courage
creation
creativity
cultivation
cycles
death
decisiveness
decline
delicacy
delusion
depth
desire
desires
destiny
detachment
determination
development
direct-experience
direction
discernment
discipline
discretion
discrimination
disgrace
divine
duality
duty
early-action
ease
effectiveness
effort
effortless
effortlessness
ego
embodiment
emotions
empathy
emptiness
endurance
energy
enlightenment
enthusiasm
environment
equality
equanimity
essence
eternal
ethics
everyday-life
everywhere
excess
expression
fairness
faith
faithfulness
fame
family
fasting
fate
fear
fearlessness
feminine
flexibility
flow
following
foresight
formless
formlessness
foundation
freedom
frugality
fulfillment
function
fundamentals
futility
generations
generosity
gentleness
giving
good-and-bad
goodness
governance
governing
grace
gradual
gratitude
greatness
greed
grief
groundedness
growth
guidance
haiku
han-shan
happiness
harmony
heart
heaven
heaven-earth
heaven-way
heavens-way
help
helping
hidden
hierarchy
highway
holy-vessel
honesty
hua-hu-jing
huang-po
human-condition
human-nature
humanity
humility
humor
i-ching
identity
illumination
illusion
immortality
impartiality
impermanence
inactivity
ineffable
inequality
inevitability
inexhaustible
infinity
influence
initiative
inner-knowing
inner-knowledge
inner-life
inner-light
innocence
inquiry
insight
integrity
intelligence
intention
interconnection
interdependence
intuition
invisible
invulnerability
japanese
joy
judgment
justice
karma
kindness
knowing
knowledge
language
lasting
leadership
learning
legacy
less-is-more
letting-be
letting-go
life
life-death
light
limits
loss
love
lowness
loyalty
ma
mastery
materialism
meditation
mind
mind-body
mindfulness
minimalism
mirror
mirror-mind
moderation
modesty
morality
mortality
mother
mysterious-female
mysterious-power
mystery
nameless
naming
natural-law
natural-order
naturalness
nature
new-beginnings
no-self
nobility
non-action
non-attachment
non-being
non-claiming
non-competition
non-contention
non-duality
non-harm
non-hoarding
non-interference
non-knowing
non-ownership
non-possession
non-possessiveness
non-resistance
non-self
non-striving
non-violence
not-contending
nothingness
nourishment
nurturing
oneness
openness
opposites
oppression
order
origin
overstimulation
paradox
path
patience
peace
perception
perfection
permanence
perseverance
persistence
perspective
philosophy
position
possessions
potential
power
practical
practice
pragmatism
presence
present-moment
preservation
prevention
primal-virtue
principles
priorities
progress
protection
purity
quality
quiet
quietness
radiance
reality
receptivity
reciprocity
recognition
recursion
redistribution
reduction
reflection
reform
refuge
relationships
relativity
renewal
repetition
reputation
resilience
resolution
respect
responding-to-injury
responsibility
rest
restlessness
restoration
restraint
results
retreat
return
returning
reverence
reversal
reward
rewards
right-path
ripple-effect
ritual
root
rootedness
sacred
sacrifice
safety
sage
satisfaction
seasons
seeing
seeking
self
self-awareness
self-cultivation
self-improvement
self-knowledge
self-righteousness
selflessness
senses
service
shapes
shunryu-suzuki
silence
simplicity
simplification
sincerity
skill
skillfulness
small-steps
social-justice
society
soft-overcomes-hard
softness
solitude
source
space
speech
spirit
spiritual
spontaneity
stability
statecraft
steadiness
stillness
strategy
strength
strength-in-weakness
substance
subtlety
subtraction
success
sudden-insight
suffering
sufficiency
support
surprise
surrender
sustainability
tao
tao-power
tao-te-ching
tao-treasure
tao-virtue
taxation
tea
teaching
the-way
thich-nhat-hanh
three-treasures
time
timing
tranquility
transcendence
transformation
transience
transition
treasure
true-life
true-nature
trust
truth
uncarved-block
uncertainty
unchanging
understanding
unity
universality
unknowable
unlearning
usefulness
valley
valley-spirit
values
victory
virtue
vitality
void
wabi
war
warning
water
weakness
wealth
wholeness
wisdom
withdrawal
wonder
wu-wei
yielding
yin-yang
yunmen
zen
zen-koan
ziran
> 20 quotes tagged "contentment"
-
Happiness is a light body and a peaceful mind. Sadness is a heavy body and an agitated mind.Chuang Tzu, Chapter 18: Perfect Happiness
-
Before I was born, I didn't know happiness. After I die, I won't know sorrow. So why should I be concerned with either now?Chuang Tzu, Chapter 18: Perfect Happiness
-
People chase fame hoping to become wealthy, then pursue honors after gaining riches, yet never find a stopping point. This cycle reveals how each achievement merely opens the door to another desire.Yang Chu's Garden of Pleasure, Ch. 1
-
Poverty galled the one, and riches caused uneasiness to the other. Neither deprivation nor abundance guarantees contentment. External circumstances alone cannot determine our wellbeing.Yang Chu's Garden of Pleasure, Ch. 6
-
Having seen and heard all these things, one would already be awearied of it at the age of a hundred. Extended existence brings only repetition of the same patterns.Yang Chu's Garden of Pleasure, Ch. 11
-
How can a body possessing the four things, a comfortable house, fine clothes, good food, and pretty women, still long for anything else? Constant wanting is destructive to both body and mind.Yang Chu's Garden of Pleasure, Ch. 19
-
The joy I speak of is the finding of the true self. The possessor of this true life will not regard ostentatious expenditure as joy, nor will the simple life be looked on with regret.Huai Nan Tzu, Essay 1
-
Whether possessing abundant resources or few, one can only consume what satisfies hunger. True wealth lies in needing little, not in accumulating excess.Huai Nan Tzu, Essay 3
-
Drinking tea, eating rice, I pass my time as it comes. Looking down at the stream, looking up at the mountain, how serene and relaxed I feel indeed!Zen Poem – Nan-ch'üan P'u-yüan (748-835)
-
I cherish the green bamboos in front of the step, and the green mountains beyond the window, eternally fresh.Zen Poem – T'ien-t'ai Te-chao (891-972)
-
Living with a cloud, I share a mountain hut. How free and easy I feel in this floating world!Zen Poem – Kuei-tsung Chih-chih
-
No lure is greater than to possess what others want, no disaster greater than not to be content with what one has, no presage of evil greater than men should be wanting to get more. Truly: He who has once known the contentment that comes simply through being content, will never again be otherwise than contented.Tao Te Ching, Chapter 46
-
A stone for a pillow. A stream for a mirror. A cliff face covered in poems no one reads. This is enough. This is more than enough.Han Shan, Cold Mountain Poems
-
Who can wait quietly while the mud settles? Who can remain still until the moment of action? Observers of the Tao do not seek fulfilment. Not seeking fulfilment, they are not swayed by desire for change.Tao Te Ching – Chapter 15
-
I have more than enough to eat, while others have nothing. I alone have nothing, but I am nourished by the great mother.Tao Te Ching – Chapter 20
-
He who knows he has enough is rich. Perseverance is a sign of will power. He who stays where he is endures. To die but not to perish is to be eternally present.Tao Te Ching – Chapter 33
-
He who is attached to things will suffer much. He who saves will suffer heavy loss. A contented man is never disappointed. He who knows when to stop does not find himself in trouble. He will stay for ever safe.Tao Te Ching – Chapter 44
-
According to followers of the Tao, "These are extra food and unnecessary luggage." They do not bring happiness. Therefore followers of the Tao avoid them.Tao Te Ching – Chapter 24
-
There is no greater sin than desire, no greater curse than discontent, no greater misfortune than wanting something for oneself.Tao Te Ching – Chapter 46
-
Therefore he who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.Tao Te Ching – Chapter 46