When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change
Thich Nhat Hanh
Related When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look into the rea... THICH NHAT HANH When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look into the rea... THICH NHAT HANH No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show t... THICH NHAT HANH All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of... WAYNE W. DYER No argument, no reasoning, no blame, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you un... THICH NHAT HANH I have an apple that thinks its a pear. And a bun that thinks it’s a cat. And a lettuce that think... PATRICK ROTHFUSS Oh, got no reason, got not shame Got no family I can blame Just don't let me disappear RYAN TEDDER The Type Everyone needs a place. It shouldn't be inside of someone else. -Richard Siken SARAH KAY Glossa Time goes by, time comes along, All is old and all is new; What is righ... MIHAI EMINESCU unless it comes out of your soul like a rocket, unless being still would drive you to... CHARLES BUKOWSKI The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate... COLIN POWELL Our love is like a flower. First you need to plant the seeds. Then you give it love,... ANTHONY T HINCKS You are all misleading one another, and are yourselves deceived. The sun does not go round the LEO TOLSTOY Harry’s letter to his daughter: If I could give you just one thing, I’d want it to be... HARRY BROWNE If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If ... RUDYARD KIPLING THE INVITATION by Oriah Mountain Dreamer It doesn't interest me what you do for a li... ORIAH MOUNTAIN DREAMER THE WEATHER OF LOVE Love Has a way of wilting Or blossoming At the s... SUZY KASSEM And you're blind?" Uh-huh," Iggy said, trying to sound bored. Were you born that way?" JAMES PATTERSON Tessa poked at her left incisor with her tongue. It was flat again, an ordinary tooth. "I don't unde... CASSANDRA CLARE DON'T SAY, DO Do not say things You think I want to hear. Instead, S... SUZY KASSEM Well I love the way the world is your garden And you plant your seeds and you let them grow ... DAR WILLIAMS If You Forget Me I want you to know one thing. You know how this is: PABLO NERUDA THE CURSE May they never Return home at night... May you have no part of ... VISAR ZHITI You must not always believe me when I say I will love you untill eternity because lo... NEENA H BRAR How sad, a heart that does not know how to love, that does not know what it is to be drunk... OMAR KHAYYáM Some times in our lives, we all have pain, we all have sorrow. But, if we are wise, we know that... AL GREEN I want you to tell me about every person you’ve ever been in love with. Tell me why you loved... ANDREA GIBSON Sending out the Disciples Luke 10 1: AFTER THESE THINGS THE LORD APPOINTED O... SWAMI DHYAN GITEN If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them t... KAHLIL GIBRAN My tactic is to look at you To learn how you are Love you as you are My tactic is to... MARIO BENEDETTI BEATRICE Against my will I am sent to bid you come in to dinner. BENEDICK Fai... WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE It ends or it doesn't. That’s what you say. That’s how you get through it. The tu... CAITLYN SIEHL My teachings are easy to understand and easy to put into practice. Yet your intellect wil... LAO TZU If I'm a bad person, you don't like me Well I guess I'll make my own way It's a circle HAYLEY WILLIAMS Sonnet XVII I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz, or the arrow of ca... PABLO NERUDA I will never let you know how much you hurt me No, I will never tell you The lasts few m... HENRY ROLLINS I will never hurt you. I will always help you. If you are hungry Ill give you my food... ORSON SCOTT CARD You don’t understand,” my dad said. “They stop you.” “Who? What are you talkin... CRISTINA HENRIQUEZ I think of you often and make no outward show, But what it means to lose you, no one will ... ANON. -I would die for you -You lie -If I lie, why do I stand here before and beg on my knees t... M Devereaux is going with our pitch.” “Hey, that’s just great,” I said superperkily. “W... MARIAN KEYES WORTHY If you ever decide to feel— feel this: I love you. I always have. I a... COCO J. GINGER It does not take a great supernatural heroine or magical hero to save the world. We all s... VERA NAZARIAN Walk straight ahead Listen to no one Trust not in the walls or doorways For they will... RENéE PAULE This is your last chance to do the right thing.' 'Do you want to attack first, or will I?' DEREK LANDY As I said, you have mistaken me for another. London is full of drab little peahens, sir. Now, then, ... CHARLOTTE FEATHERSTONE Just Friends I know that I don't own you, and perhaps I never will, so anger wh... LANG LEAV CAUSE AND EFFECT You can give a man who has never given you a good word, Volumes of ... SUZY KASSEM Spilling a Secret What its size, will have varying consequences. It’s not ... ELLEN HOPKINS to love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it and everything you've held d... ELLEN BASS I had an accident." "That seemes to happen a lot." "It wasn't my fault." ... RICHELLE MEAD Look, this is all very, very weird. Why are you focusing on rumours and urban legends? You haven’t... DEREK LANDY I know you not quite well Yet I foolishly surrender my mind to you. Slowly and carefully ... KAMAND KOJOURI A Decalogue of Canons for Observation in Practical Life: 1. Never put off to tomorrow wha... THOMAS JEFFERSON In life, we plant seeds everywhere we go. Some fall on fertile ground needing very little to gr... SANJO JENDAYI So what I want to know is why it is that I can no longer find you, in my mind. You are still there, ... NEIL GAIMAN A BILL OF ASSERTIVE RIGHTS I: You have the right to judge your own behavior, thoughts, an... MANUEL J. SMITH You have no idea of what you are doing to me,” he warned. She smiled. “Are you trying to fr... AMANDA QUICK What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man, ... T.S. ELIOT The hoopoe said: 'Your heart's congealed like ice; When will you free yourself from cowardice?<... FARID UD-DIN ATTAR Rise Again One goal goes by the wayside Some watch sneering arms folded Laughing at y... KALEB KILTON A faint smile played on his lips. "Obedience does not come naturally to you, does it" "No...sir... RICK RIORDAN and you invented me and I invented you and that's why we don't get along on this... CHARLES BUKOWSKI If you think you are beaten, you are If you think you dare not, you don't, If you like to ... WALTER D. WINTLE I love you when you’re happy. I love you when you’re sad. I love you if you’re ang... CARLA J. HANNA I am not the first person you loved. You are not the first person I looked at with a mouth... CLEMENTINE VON RADICS As you set out on your journey to Ithaca, pray that your journey be a long one, filled wit... BARRY B. POWELL I promise I'll never tell." "Don't promise that," he said in an ultraserious voice. "If t... JERI SMITH-READY Gift giving is a true art. 1. You need to understand the person to whom you intend to giv... VERA NAZARIAN You start dying slowly if you do not travel, if you do not read, If you do not lis... MARTHA MEDEIROS If only you would realize some day, how much have you hurt me, If only your heart ever, craves ... MEHEK BASSI If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber... WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE For those who are not frightened by the solitude, everything will have a different taste. PAULO COELHO FORBIDDEN Pain without learning is forbidden, waking up one day not knowing what to do, JOSé N. HARRIS And the best and the worst of this is That neither is most to blame, If you have forgotten... ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE It offends me when you doubt my love. These jealousies are unwarranted. If only you lived ... KAMAND KOJOURI The Pretender Keep you in the dark you know they all pretend Keep you in the dark an... FOO FIGHTERS Hello? This is Clary Fairchild.” “Clary? It’s me, Emma.” “Oh, Emma, ... CASSANDRA CLARE I want to write something so simply about love or about pain that even ... MARY OLIVER Never say I love you If you really don't care. Never talk about feelings If they... ANON. The dead do not need aspirin or sorrow, I suppose. but they might need rain... CHARLES BUKOWSKI (You do not have to be shamed in my closeness. Family are the people who must never make you feel as... JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER I am no king, and I am no lord, And I am no soldier at-arms," said he. "I'm none but a har... PETER S. BEAGLE Because like the depths of the ocean that calls you home, you will never be easy. But dar... JEANETTE LEBLANC I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without c... PABLO NERUDA Everything we say and do affects people. It can be either physically or mentally. Words ca... HINA YU And I understand my sisters when they say every woman has a story that's been told a maxim of one so... MARK GONZALES What happens when I love, you ask, does the world start making sense? No, my dear,... KAMAND KOJOURI ... so this is for us. This is for us who sing, write, dance, act, study, run and love and... CHARLOTTE ERIKSSON If you think you're beaten, you are; If you think you dare not, you don't; If you'd like to w... WALTER D. WINTLE To the most inconsiderate asshole of a friend, I’m writing you this letter because I know tha... CECELIA AHERN Life has no victims. There are no victims in this life. No one has the right to point fin... C. JOYBELL C. Look for it, and it can’t be seen. Listen for it, and it can’t be heard. Grasp for it,... LAO TZU Is it odd, my love, that I envy others who have not met you for the intoxication t... KAMAND KOJOURI It's very good of you--" "No, no, not at all. It's my hobby. Not proposing to people, I d... DOROTHY L. SAYERS May you find serenity and tranquility in a worl... SANDRA STURTZ HAUSS Please do not look only at the dark side All the newspapers in the free world explain why... THOMAS MERTON Well, now If little by little you stop loving me I shall stop loving you Little by li... PABLO NERUDA Was that me? Yes it was. Was that him? No it wasn't.. Just a trick of the woods! Just ... STEPHEN SONDHEIM We shall not sip from the same glass, No water for us, or sweet wine; We’ll not embrace ... ANNA AHKMATOVA
More Thich Nhat Hanh
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THICH NHAT HANH We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would reduce their weapon ... THICH NHAT HANH It is my conviction that there is no way to peace - peace is the way. THICH NHAT HANH Listening to and understanding our inner sufferings will resolve most of the problems we encounter. THICH NHAT HANH When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffer... THICH NHAT HANH Without suffering, there's no happiness. So we shouldn't discriminate against the mud. We have to le... THICH NHAT HANH Those who are without compassion cannot see what is seen with the eyes of compassion. THICH NHAT HANH It is possible to live twenty-four hours a day in a state of love. Every movement, every glance, eve... THICH NHAT HANH If we do not know how to take care of ourselves and to love ourselves, we cannot take care of the pe... THICH NHAT HANH Breathing in, there is only the present moment. Breathing out, it is a wonderful moment. THICH NHAT HANH My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions a... THICH NHAT HANH To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see re... THICH NHAT HANH Impermanence and selflessness are not negative aspect of life, but the very foundation on which life... THICH NHAT HANH Maitri can be translated as "love" or "loving kindness". Some Buddhist teachers prefer "loving kindn... THICH NHAT HANH The leaves that remain are only a very small part of the tea. The tea that goes into me is a much bi... THICH NHAT HANH drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it as the axis on which the world revolves THICH NHAT HANH If you want to relax the worry-tightened muscles in your face, let the half smile come to your face.... THICH NHAT HANH While washing the dishes, you might be thinking about the tea afterwards, and so try to get them out... THICH NHAT HANH Dear master, I think it would be better for each of us to watch ourself. To look after oneself means... THICH NHAT HANH Reality is reality. It transcends every concept. There is no concept which can adequately describe i... THICH NHAT HANH Work is only a part of life. But work is life only when done in mindfulness. Otherwise, one becomes ... THICH NHAT HANH Now I see that if one doesn’t know how to die, one can hardly know how to live—because death is ... THICH NHAT HANH Attachment to the false view of self means belief in the presence of unchanging entities which exist... THICH NHAT HANH failures are not your own self. See to it that you are free from them. Only when you can relinquish ... THICH NHAT HANH Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life. Don’t be attached to the future. Don’t ... THICH NHAT HANH As a Buddhist Sutra hears the voice of the Bodhisattva of compassion: The wondrous voice, the voice ... THICH NHAT HANH Of course, walking alone on a country path, it is easier to maintain mindfulness. If there’s a fri... THICH NHAT HANH Then Allen said, “I’ve discovered a way to have a lot more time. In the past, I used to look at ... THICH NHAT HANH Only this actual moment is life. THICH NHAT HANH The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion. The most important person is always... THICH NHAT HANH Mindfulness is like that—it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and r... THICH NHAT HANH Half-smile when you first wake up in the morning Hang a branch, any other sign, or even the word “... THICH NHAT HANH Don’t do any task in order to get it over with. Resolve to do each job in a relaxed way, with all ... THICH NHAT HANH Everyday we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green ... THICH NHAT HANH We talk about social service, service to the people, service to humanity, service to others who are ... THICH NHAT HANH The raft is used to cross the river. It isn't to be carried around on your shoulders. The finger whi... THICH NHAT HANH I clean this teapot with the kind of attention I would have were I giving the baby Buddha or Jesus a... THICH NHAT HANH If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the di... THICH NHAT HANH Your breathing should flow gracefully, like a river, like a watersnake crossing the water,... THICH NHAT HANH In mindfulness one is not only restful and happy, but alert and awake. Meditation is not evasion; it... THICH NHAT HANH Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. ... THICH NHAT HANH To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept ... THICH NHAT HANH Some people live as though they are already dead. There are people moving around us who are consumed... THICH NHAT HANH In a relationship, we are nourishment for each other. So we have to select the kind of food we offer... THICH NHAT HANH