--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This I tell you: decay is inherent in all…" description: "\"“This I tell you: decay is inherent in all conditioned things. Work out your own salvation, with diligence.”\" — Gautama Buddha" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/gautama-buddha-163_quote_this-i-tell-you-decay-is-inherent-in-all_2108133.jpg" --- # This I tell you: decay is inherent in all conditioned… ![“This I tell you: decay is inherent in all conditioned things. Work out your own salvation, with diligence.” quote by Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/gautama-buddha-163_quote_this-i-tell-you-decay-is-inherent-in-all_2108133.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/gautama-buddha-163_quote_this-i-tell-you-decay-is-inherent-in-all_2108133.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/gautama-buddha-163_quote_this-i-tell-you-decay-is-inherent-in-all_2108133.jpg) > ““This I tell you: decay is inherent in all conditioned things. Work out your own salvation, with diligence.”” [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. All conditioned things decay; personal salvation requires diligent effort. **In simple terms:** Everything fades; work hard for your own liberation. Key Takeaway Practice mindfulness and self-discipline. Themes impermanence self-reliance spiritual practice Mood reflective serene Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - daily meditation - ethical living - study of teachings Key Concepts samsara enlightenment Questions to Reflect On - What personal practices sustain your growth? - How do you confront inevitable change? A Different Perspective Diligence alone may not overcome systemic suffering. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [We begin to die from the moment we are born, for birth is the cause of death. The nature of decay is inherent in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/we-begin-to-die-from-the-moment-we-are-born-for-birth-is-the-cause-of/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“With the death of what Sydney Smith described as rational religon and the proponents of what remains sending out such confusing and uncertain messages,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-d-james-2/with-the-death-of-what-sydney-smith-described-as-rational-religon-and/) [P.D. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-d-james-2/) > [When I was a young man, near the beginning of my life, I looked around with true mindfulness and saw that all things are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/when-i-was-a-young-man-near-the-beginning-of-my-life-i-looked-around/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [All compounded things are subject to decay. Strive with diligence!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/all-compounded-things-are-subject-to-decay-strive-with-diligence/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [The Beautiful chariots of kings wear out, This body too undergoes decay. But the Dhamma of the good does not decay: So the good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/the-beautiful-chariots-of-kings-wear-out-this-body-too-undergoes/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [“When the Aggregates arise, decay and die, O bhikkhu, every moment you are born, decay, and die.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/when-the-aggregates-arise-decay-and-die-o-bhikkhu-every-moment-you/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [All composite things decay. Strive diligently.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/all-composite-things-decay-strive-diligently/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [No government can be strong and flourishing while the national character is weak and degraded. A government must flourish and decay with its subjects;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-robbins-curtis/no-government-can-be-strong-and-flourishing-while-the-national/) [Benjamin Robbins Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-robbins-curtis/) > [It seems that the whole world is beginning to decay, and that its putrefaction has chosen to spread outward from here, from the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/it-seems-that-the-whole-world-is-beginning-to-decay-and-that-its/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/wise-people-are-able-to-give-themselves-gracefully-to-seemingly/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/) [Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/) > [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More by Gautama Buddha > [Before you've seen it, and when you first see it, it is the greatest thing; afterwards, it is ordinary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/before-you-ve-seen-it-and-when-you-first-see-it-it-is-the-greatest/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [One of his students asked Buddha, "Are you the Messiah?" "No," answered Buddha. "Then are you a healer?" "No," Buddha replied. "Then are you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/one-of-his-students-asked-buddha-are-you-the-messiah-no-answered/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Give thanks for what had been given to you, However little. Be pure, never falter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/give-thanks-for-what-had-been-given-to-you-however-little-be-pure/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [For fear of causing terror to living beings, Mahamati, let the Bodhisattva who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/for-fear-of-causing-terror-to-living-beings-mahamati-let-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Be lamps unto yourselves. Be refuges unto yourselves. Take yourself no external refuge. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp. Hold fast to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/be-lamps-unto-yourselves-be-refuges-unto-yourselves-take-yourself-no/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Speak only the speech that neither torments self nor does harm to others. That speech is truly well spoken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/speak-only-the-speech-that-neither-torments-self-nor-does-harm-to/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Pain is the outcome of sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/pain-is-the-outcome-of-sin/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [It is because I perceive the danger in the practice of mystic wonders, that I loath, abhor, and am ashamed thereof.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/it-is-because-i-perceive-the-danger-in-the-practice-of-mystic-wonders/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [So too, monks, I saw the ancient path, the ancient road traveled by the Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past. And what is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/so-too-monks-i-saw-the-ancient-path-the-ancient-road-traveled-by-the/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [If one is the master of oneself, one is the resort one can depend on; therefore, one should control oneself of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/if-one-is-the-master-of-oneself-one-is-the-resort-one-can-depend-on/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [Watch the thought and its ways with care, and let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/watch-the-thought-and-its-ways-with-care-and-let-it-spring-from-love/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [One is not low because of birth nor does birth make one holy. Deeds alone make one low, deeds alone make one holy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/one-is-not-low-because-of-birth-nor-does-birth-make-one-holy-deeds/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [He who causes suffering shall suffer. There is no escape.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/he-who-causes-suffering-shall-suffer-there-is-no-escape/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [If a person does not harm any living being...and does not kill or cause others to kill - that person is a true spiritual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/if-a-person-does-not-harm-any-living-being-and-does-not-kill-or-cause/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [The fool says, "These are my sons, this is my land, this is my money." In reality, the fool does not own himself, much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/the-fool-says-these-are-my-sons-this-is-my-land-this-is-my-money-in/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) [Explore all 1,043 Gautama Buddha quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) ## More Decay quotes > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One reason why my memory decays is that I have three cats, all so loving and insistent that they play cat's-cradle with every train…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/one-reason-why-my-memory-decays-is-that-i-have-three-cats-all-so/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [I've always thought that the most extraordinary special effect you could do is to buy a child at the moment of its birth, sit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-barker/i-ve-always-thought-that-the-most-extraordinary-special-effect-you/) [Clive Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-barker/) > [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/) [Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/) > [Wise people are able to give themselves gracefully to seemingly contradictory experiences, because they know that they belong to different seasons of life, all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-keen/wise-people-are-able-to-give-themselves-gracefully-to-seemingly/) [Sam Keen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-keen/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. Now since being alive is spoken of in many ways, even if only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-ensouled-is-distinguished-from-the-unsouled-by-its-being-alive/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [It seems that the whole world is beginning to decay, and that its putrefaction has chosen to spread outward from here, from the land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yasmina-khadra/it-seems-that-the-whole-world-is-beginning-to-decay-and-that-its/) [Yasmina Khadra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yasmina-khadra/) > [No government can be strong and flourishing while the national character is weak and degraded. A government must flourish and decay with its subjects;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-robbins-curtis/no-government-can-be-strong-and-flourishing-while-the-national/) [Benjamin Robbins Curtis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-robbins-curtis/) > [But the grind has begun. The windows don’t open, and even the availability of near-constant jokes about Jews and Mormons fails to stem the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/but-the-grind-has-begun-the-windows-don-t-open-and-even-the/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [Cocaine decisions that you make today, will mean nothing later on when you get nose decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/cocaine-decisions-that-you-make-today-will-mean-nothing-later-on-when/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/) [Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/) > [Youth should be radical. Youth should demand change in the world. Youth should not accept the old order if the world is to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-allen-white/youth-should-be-radical-youth-should-demand-change-in-the-world-youth/) [William Allen White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-allen-white/) > [Waiting makes wine better; but waiting makes man decay! Don't wait because you have no time! Move fast!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/waiting-makes-wine-better-but-waiting-makes-man-decay-don-t-wait/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [Without adventure all civilization is full of decay. Adventure rarely reaches its predetermined end. Columbus never reached China.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-north-whitehead/without-adventure-all-civilization-is-full-of-decay-adventure-rarely/) [Alfred North Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-north-whitehead/) > [“Out of all its squalor and human decay, its eruptions of butchery, India produced so many people of grace and beauty, ruled by elaborate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/out-of-all-its-squalor-and-human-decay-its-eruptions-of-butchery/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) Browse all 744 Decay quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“This I tell you: decay is inherent in all conditioned things. Work out your own salvation, with diligence.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gautama Buddha" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/this-i-tell-you-decay-is-inherent-in-all-conditioned-things-work-out/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Decay" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/this-i-tell-you-decay-is-inherent-in-all-conditioned-things-work-out/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/gautama-buddha-163_quote_this-i-tell-you-decay-is-inherent-in-all_2108133.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/gautama-buddha-163_quote_this-i-tell-you-decay-is-inherent-in-all_2108133.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f1/gautama-buddha-163_quote_this-i-tell-you-decay-is-inherent-in-all_2108133.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This I tell you: decay is inherent in all conditioned things. Work out your own salvation, with diligence.” — Gautama Buddha", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Gautama Buddha", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“This I tell you: decay is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/this-i-tell-you-decay-is-inherent-in-all-conditioned-things-work-out/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/this-i-tell-you-decay-is-inherent-in-all-conditioned-things-work-out/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```