Jack Kornfield Quotes

“Even Socrates, who lived a very frugal and simple life, loved to go to the market. When his students asked about this, he replied, "I love to go and see all the things I am happy without.”

“In the end
these things matter most:
How well did you love?
How fully did you live?
How deeply did you let go?”

“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.”

“The trouble is, you think you have time.”

“True emptiness is not empty, but contains all things. The mysterious and pregnant void creates and reflects all possibilities. From it arises our individuality, which can be discovered and developed, although never possessed or fixed.”

“In the end, just three things matter:

How well we have lived
How well we have loved
How well we have learned to let go”

“We must look at ourselves over and over again in order to learn to love, to discover what has kept our hearts closed, and what it means to allow our hearts to open.”

“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.”

“As surely as there is a voyage away, there is a journey home.”

“Let go of the battle. Breathe quietly and let it be. Let your body relax and your heart soften. Open to whatever you experience without fighting.”

“This life is a test-it is only a test.
If it had been an actual life, you would have received further
instructions on where to go and what to do.
Remember, this life is only a test.”

“As we encounter new experiences with a mindful and wise attention, we discover that one of three things will happen to our new experience: it will go away, it will stay the same, or it will get more intense. whatever happens does not really matter.”

“The knowledge of the past stays with us. To let go is to
release the images and emotions, the grudges and fears, the
clingings and disappointments of the past that bind our
spirit.”

“To bow to the fact of our life's sorrows and betrayals is to accept them; and from this deep gesture we discover that all life is workable. As we learn to bow, we discover that the heart holds more freedom and compassion than we could imagine.”

“The entire teaching of Buddhism can be summed up in this way: Nothing is worth holding on to.”

“Every individual has a unique contribution.”