--- title: "4 Ten years Quotes By Thích Nhất Hạnh" description: "4 Ten years quotes by Thích Nhất Hạnh. Plus more from Thích Nhất Hạnh and more Ten years sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_graduation_we-can-smile-breathe-walk-and-eat-our-me_848732.jpg" --- > [We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/we-can-smile-breathe-walk-and-eat-our-meals-in-a-way-that-allows-us-2/) [THICH NHAT HANH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_graduation_we-can-smile-breathe-walk-and-eat-our-me_848732.jpg) > [“There is a story I would like to tell you about a woman who practices the invocation of the Buddha Amitabha's name.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/there-is-a-story-i-would-like-to-tell-you-about-a-woman-who-practices/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/232/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_ten-years_there-is-a-story-i-would-like-to-tell-yo_860315.jpg) > [“experience of reality and not on notions offered by others, no one can remove these beliefs from us. Making a long-term commitment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/experience-of-reality-and-not-on-notions-offered-by-others-no-one-can/) [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe8/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_daily-life_experience-of-reality-and-not-on-notions_2060593.jpg) > [“We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/we-are-very-good-at-preparing-to-live-but-not-very-good-at-living-we/) [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_good-living_we-are-very-good-at-preparing-to-live-bu_2483759.jpg) ## Other authors on Ten years ## More by Thích Nhất Hạnh > [“For example, the sound of the telephone can make us irritated and anxious. That is the sound of the telephone which comes as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/for-example-the-sound-of-the-telephone-can-make-us-irritated-and/) [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“Bhikkhus, the teaching is merely a vehicle to describe the truth. Don’t mistake it for the truth itself. A finger pointing at the moon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/bhikkhus-the-teaching-is-merely-a-vehicle-to-describe-the-truth-don-t/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“If we practice walking meditation, we walk just for walking, not to arrive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/if-we-practice-walking-meditation-we-walk-just-for-walking-not-to/) [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“Control the senses, practice equanimity. Live by disciplinary rules. Associate with good friends who are not lazy and live purely. Be courteous and well-mannered,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/control-the-senses-practice-equanimity-live-by-disciplinary-rules/) [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“If you are lost in a forest at night, you can follow the North Star to find your way out. You follow the North…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/if-you-are-lost-in-a-forest-at-night-you-can-follow-the-north-star-to/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“If you are a poet, you will clearly see a cloud floating on this sheet of paper. Thich Nhat Hanh”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/if-you-are-a-poet-you-will-clearly-see-a-cloud-floating-on-this-sheet/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“Happiness can be attained by letting go, including letting go of your ideas about happiness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/happiness-can-be-attained-by-letting-go-including-letting-go-of-your/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“We have many kinds of energies in us, including the energies of anger, violence, and craving. But compassion is also a very strong energy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/we-have-many-kinds-of-energies-in-us-including-the-energies-of-anger/) [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“Knowing how to handle suffering, you know at the same time how to produce happiness. And if you’re truly happy, we all profit from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/knowing-how-to-handle-suffering-you-know-at-the-same-time-how-to/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“You have to realize that happiness is not something you find at the end of the road. You have to understand that it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/you-have-to-realize-that-happiness-is-not-something-you-find-at-the/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“Suppose you are in the desert, and you only have one glass of muddy water. You have to transform the muddy water into clear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/suppose-you-are-in-the-desert-and-you-only-have-one-glass-of-muddy/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“When you speak, allow the insight of our collective humanity to speak through you. When you walk, don't walk for yourself alone; walk for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/when-you-speak-allow-the-insight-of-our-collective-humanity-to-speak/) [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“Your body belongs to the earth. In modern life, people tend to think their bodies belong to them, that they can do anything they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/your-body-belongs-to-the-earth-in-modern-life-people-tend-to-think/) [Thich Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“A single wise word bringing peace to the listener is worth more than a thousand speeches of empty words.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/a-single-wise-word-bringing-peace-to-the-listener-is-worth-more-than/) [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) > [“There is no fire like lust, no vise like hatred, no trap like delusion, and no galloping river like craving.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/there-is-no-fire-like-lust-no-vise-like-hatred-no-trap-like-delusion/) [Thích Nhất Hạnh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten-years/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/#itemlist", "name": "4 Ten years Quotes By Thích Nhất Hạnh", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available. We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thích Nhất Hạnh" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/we-can-smile-breathe-walk-and-eat-our-meals-in-a-way-that-allows-us-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_graduation_we-can-smile-breathe-walk-and-eat-our-me_848732.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_graduation_we-can-smile-breathe-walk-and-eat-our-me_848732.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_graduation_we-can-smile-breathe-walk-and-eat-our-me_848732.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of…” — THICH NHAT HANH", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There is a story I would like to tell you about a woman who practices the invocation of the Buddha Amitabha's name. She is very tough, and she practices the invocation three times daily, using a wooden drum and a bell, reciting, \"Namo Amitabha Buddha\" for one hour each time. When she arrives at one thousand times, she invites the bell to sound. (In Vietnamese, we don't say \"strike\" or \"hit\" a bell.) Although she has been doing this for ten years, her personality has not changed. She is still quite mean, shouting at people all the time. A friend wanted to teach her a lesson, so one afternoon when she had just lit the incense, invited the bell to sound three times, and was beginning to recite \"Namo Amitabha Buddha,\" he came to her door, and said, \"Mrs. Nguyen, Mrs. Nguyen!\" She found it very annoying because this was her time of practice, but he just stood at the front gate shouting her name. She said to herself, \"I have to struggle against my anger, so I will ignore that,\" and she went on, \"Namo Amitabha Buddha, Namo Amitabha Buddha.\" The gentleman continued to shout her name, and her anger became more and more oppressive. She struggled against it, wondering, \"Should I stop my recitation and go and give him a piece of my mind?\" But she continued chanting, and she struggled very hard. Fire mounted in her, but she still tried to chant \"Namo Amitabha Buddha.\" The gentleman knew it, and he continued to shout, \"Mrs. Nguyen! Mrs. Nguyen!\" She could not bear it any longer. She threw away the bell and the drum. She slammed the door, went out to the gate and said, \"Why, why do you behave like that? Why do you call my name hundreds of times like that?\" The gentleman smiled at her and said, \"I just called your name for ten minutes, and you are so angry. You have been calling the Buddha's name for ten years. Think how angry he must be!”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thích Nhất Hạnh" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/there-is-a-story-i-would-like-to-tell-you-about-a-woman-who-practices/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/232/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_ten-years_there-is-a-story-i-would-like-to-tell-yo_860315.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/232/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_ten-years_there-is-a-story-i-would-like-to-tell-yo_860315.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/232/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_ten-years_there-is-a-story-i-would-like-to-tell-yo_860315.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is a story I would like to tell you about a woman who practices the invocation of the Buddha…” — Thich Nhat Hanh", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“experience of reality and not on notions offered by others, no one can remove these beliefs from us. Making a long-term commitment to a concept is much more dangerous. If ten years pass without the growth of our belief, one day we will wake up and discover that we can no longer believe in what we did. The notion of ten years ago is no longer sound or adequate, and we are plunged into the darkness of disbelief. Our faith must be alive. It cannot be just a set of rigid beliefs and notions. Our faith must evolve every day and bring us joy, peace, freedom, and love. Faith implies practice, living our daily life in mindfulness. Some people think that prayer or meditation involves only our minds or our hearts. But we also have to pray with our bodies, with our actions in the world. And our actions must be modelled after those of the living Buddha or the living Christ. If we live as they did, we will have deep understanding and pure actions, and we will do our share to help create a more peaceful world for our children and all of the children of God.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thích Nhất Hạnh" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/experience-of-reality-and-not-on-notions-offered-by-others-no-one-can/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe8/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_daily-life_experience-of-reality-and-not-on-notions_2060593.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe8/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_daily-life_experience-of-reality-and-not-on-notions_2060593.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe8/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_daily-life_experience-of-reality-and-not-on-notions_2060593.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“experience of reality and not on notions offered by others, no one can remove these beliefs from us. Making…” — Thích Nhất Hạnh", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Thích Nhất Hạnh" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/we-are-very-good-at-preparing-to-live-but-not-very-good-at-living-we/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_good-living_we-are-very-good-at-preparing-to-live-bu_2483759.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_good-living_we-are-very-good-at-preparing-to-live-bu_2483759.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3c7/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_good-living_we-are-very-good-at-preparing-to-live-bu_2483759.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are very good at preparing to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a…” — Thích Nhất Hạnh", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten-years/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten-years/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/", "name": "Ten years Quotes by Thích Nhất Hạnh", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten-years/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/253/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh-689_graduation_we-can-smile-breathe-walk-and-eat-our-me_848732.jpg" }, "description": "4 Ten years quotes by Thích Nhất Hạnh. Plus more from Thích Nhất Hạnh and more Ten years sayings from other authors.", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten-years/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/#breadcrumb" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten-years/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Topics", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Ten Years", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten-years/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "Thích Nhất Hạnh", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ten-years/th-ch-nh-t-h-nh/" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```