“Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.” – The Buddha

“Radiate boundless love towards the entire world — above, below, and across — unhindered, without ill will, without enmity.” – The Buddha

(From the Metta Sutta)

“The root of suffering is attachment.” The Buddha

This is a saying from the Pali canon, upadhi dukkhassa mūlanti, which means “Attachment is the root of suffering.” So this is a genuine canonical quote.

You’ll find it in this sutta, but translated by Thanissaro as “Acquisition is the root of stress.” His translations are rather idiosyncratic.

In this translation of the same sutta it’s “acquisition is the root of suffering.”

Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation (not available online, but in The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha, page 868) has “attachment is the root of suffering,” although he sometimes has “acquisition” in place of “attachment,” in various repetitions of the phrase.

“As an elephant in the battlefield withstands arrows shot from bows all around, even so shall I endure abuse.” The Buddha

As an elephant in the battlefield withstands arrows shot from bows all around, even so shall I endure abuse.

This is a genuine Buddha quote. It’s from the Dhammapada, verse 320.

“Irrigators channel waters; fletchers straighten arrows; carpenters bend wood; the wise master themselves.” The Buddha

This is a genuine Buddha quote. It’s from the Dhammapada, verse 80:

Irrigators channel waters;
fletchers straighten arrows;
carpenters shape wood;
the wise master themselves.

“If they are neither traceable in the Discourses nor verifiable by the Discipline, one must conclude thus: ‘Certainly, this is not the Blessed One’s utterance’“ The Buddha

Without approval and without scorn, but carefully studying the sentences word by word, one should trace them in the Discourses and verify them by the Discipline. If they are neither traceable in the Discourses nor verifiable by the Discipline, one must conclude thus: ‘Certainly, this is not the Blessed One’s utterance; this has been misunderstood by that bhikkhu — or by that community, or by those elders, or by that elder.’ In that way, bhikkhus, you should reject it.

This is from the Mahaparinibbana Sutta.

“Those who cling to perceptions and views wander the world offending people.” The Buddha

This striking verse is found in the Magandiya Suta in the Sutta Nipata, which is generally held to be one of the oldest texts in the Pali canon.

Bhikkhu Thanissaro translates this as:

“Those who grasp at perceptions and views
go about butting their heads in the world.”

Fausböll, a 19th century pioneer translator, has:

“But those who grasped after marks and philosophical views, they wander about in the world annoying people.”

Suttas.net has:

“Those attached to the notion ‘I am’ and to views
Roam the world offending people.”

The translator notes that “I am” is not in the quotation, but that its inclusion is warranted by material nearby.

The original Pali is:

Saññaca diṭṭhiñca ye aggahesuṃ
Te ghaṭṭayantā vicaranti loketi.

My rendition would be:

Those who cling to perceptions (saññā) and views (diṭṭhi)
Wander (vicarati) the world offending (ghaṭṭeti) people.

[Added later: Bhikkhu Varado’s translation, which I just discovered, is almost identical to mine: “Those attached to perception and views / roam the world offending people.”]

“He who can curb his wrath as soon as it arises, as a timely antidote will check snake’s venom that so quickly spreads, — such a monk gives up the here and the beyond, just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.” The Buddha

“He who can curb his wrath as soon as it arises, as a timely antidote will check snake’s venom that so quickly spreads — such a monk gives up the here and the beyond, just as a serpent sheds its worn-out skin.”

The Buddha (from the Sutta Nipata)