To live without regrets, keep moving forward toward set goals

This lifetime will never come again; It is precious and irreplaceable. To live without regret, it is crucial for us to have a concrete purpose and continually set goals and challenges for ourselves. It is equally important that we keep moving towards those specific targets steadily and tenaciously, one step at a time.
[BDBD-370]

Dialogue brings people together

Dialogue is a positive endeavour. It builds solidarity and creates unity. To reject others only has negative repercussions. It invites division and leads to destruction. The point is to meet and to talk. It is only natural that our perspective may at times differ fom that of others. But dialogue gives rise to trust, even among those who don't see eye-to-eye.
[BDBD-379]

True success means winning over oneself

What is true success in life? True success means winning in your battle with yourself. Those who persist in the pursuit of their dreams, no matter what the hurdles, are winners in life, for they have won over their weakness.
[BDBD-378]

Problems are proof that we're alive!

Problems are proof that we're alive. They are also the source of all growth and progress. We have to use our problems and suffering as the energy or fuel for propelling us forward towards even greater happiness in the future.
[GT4-330]

Happiness is to be found in the vibrant dynamism when one strives to overcome obstacles

Happiness doesn't exist on the far side of distant mountains. It is within you, yourself. However, it's not when you are sitting in idle passivity, but it's found in the vibrant dynamism of your own life as you struggle to challenge and overcome one obstacle after another, as you clamber up a perilous ridge in pursuit of that which lies beyond.
[BDBD bookmark]

Education: to improve society and realise world peace

What our world most requires now is the kind of education that fosters love for humankind, that develops character that provides an intellectual basis for the realization of peace and empowers learners to contribute to and improve society.

~ Daisaku Ikeda (in a lecture at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation,New Delhi, India, October 21,1997)

Truly great are those who enable others to realize their greatness

The truly great do not seek greatness for themselves; they seek to enable others to realize greatnesss. It is the responsibility of seniors to protect and work for the welfare of their juniors, and to foster them into people even more capable than themselves.
[GT5-295]

Life is like a sea voyage

Life is like a sea voyage. We each need to open up our own course in life with the strength of our convictions, unperturbed by the crashing breakers of life's stormy seas. The fiercer the tempest reages, the more we need to rouse our own fighting spirit and man the tiller with all our strength and ksill crying, "Bring it on!" Through this type of ardous struggle we can forge the practical wisdom to triumph consistently and, as victorious champions, to create history.
[BDBD-318]

Be victorious for the sake of society and yourself

Whatever obstacles may confront you
Live on undefeated
Ever polishing your inner gem
Leave a history of accomplishment
For the sake of society
And for yourself.


--Daisaku Ikeda, SGI President

Give your all!

People shouldn't hesitate to exert their all, in a way true to themselves. How can you possibly ever know how far or fast you can go if you've never run all-out? To give up even before you've tried is actually arrogance--an affront to the wondrous power of life within you and disrespectful to yourself. It is cowardly.

Courage is needed to achieve your dreams

No matter how wonderful our dreams, how noble our ideals, or how high our hopes. ultimately we need courage to make them a reality. Without action, it's as if they never existed.

We can keep learning at any age!

The workings of our mind are truly subtle. Some have noted that despite what is commonly believed, our memory doesn't necessarily deteriorate as we get older. Even supposing a certain degree of decline is inevitable, our acceptance of people's assertions that memory function deteriorates as a fact, actually causes us to become more forgetful. In reality, however, our brain is made so that we can keep learning at any age.
[GT4-259]

Art is the emotion, the pleasure of expressing life as it is

When we create or appreciate art, we set free the spirit trapped within. That is why art arouses such joy. Art -- whether skillfully executed or not -- is the emotion, the pleasure of expressing life as it is. Those who see art are moved by its passion and strength, its intensity and beauty. That is why it is impossible to separate life from art. Political and economic developments may seem to dominate the news, but culture and education are the forces that actually shape an age, since they transform the human heart.
[BDBD-271]

Indifference to injustice is our enemy

Indifference to injustice is our enemy. Those who pretend not to see evil are accomplices to evil.
[GT5-251]

True worth is determined by effort, not by what you are

It is important to remember that your worth as a person is not based on your profession. It is not based on wealth, fame or academic credentials. What counts is how hard you have striven in your chosen path, how much good you have accomplished, how earnestly you have devoted your energies to it. It is your spirit of devotion, your sincerity, that determines your true worth.
[BDBD-265]

Find time to read

If you make the time -- for example, ten minutes in the morning, ten in the afternoon and ten at night -- you'll be able to read a total of thirty minutes each day. You'll often find that you read with much greater concentration in those precious moments of time set aside amid a busy schedule. It usually leaves a much deeper impression than reading done at a more leisurely pace.
[GT4-254]

Let's not forget our debts of gratitude

Looking at the world today, there are very few people with a proper sense of appreciation and gratitude. Ingratitude is the root of society's troubles. A family is in trouble when the children forget to be grateful and appreciative of their parents. And when leaders in society forget to appreciate and be grateful to the people, they invariably grow arrogant and begin to go off course.
[Adapted from ST330-4]

Let's first reform ourselves...

A great inner revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of an entire society and, further, will cause a change in the destiny of humankind.
[BDBD-214]

It's only through suffering that one can appreciate happiness

...It is those who have suffered through life's darkest hours who are able to truly savour the bright dawn of happiness. The person who has transformed the worst of fate into the best of fortune is life's champion.
[BDBD-222]

Just give your best. Don't be cowardly

People shouldn't hesitate to exert their all, in a way true to themselves. How can you possibly ever know how far or fast you can go if you've never all-out? To give up even before you've tried is actually arrogance... It is cowardly.
[BDBD-223]

What is the purpose of life and education?

What is the purpose of life? What is the purpose of learning? Without a profound philosophy that addresses these questions, our lives will be superficial and shallow. How can we deepen ourselves as individuals? How can we attain a rich, fulfilling view of what it means to be a human being? And how can we lead lives that make the most of our potential? These are the basic questions we face in life.
[GT5-197]

Press on... for a better tomorrow

Certainly there will be times when you wish you had more spending money, more time to sleep and more time for fun and recreation. You may feel restricted now, but you should consider your current situation as the perfect set of circumstances for your growth. Within the restrictions that define your present existence, the only thing to do is to discipline yourself and head in the direction of growth and self-improvement.
[BDBD-199]

Let's be generous with our encouragements

"Just as a spring breeze awakens tender new shoots of green, sincere
encouragement can thaw a frozen heart and inspire another. Nothing has
greater power to revitalise than encouragement."~Shin'ichi Yamamoto

There is no shortcut to be a person of genuine substance. Foundation can only be built through hard work.

You cannot build a foundation without effort and hard work, and without a solid foundation, you cannot become a person of genuine substance. Please make no mistake about this. Cunning people who shun hard work and seek to make it big overnight invariably come to a fall in the end.
[GT5-144]

Strive to be like Edison, never giving up for the sake of others

Edison worked to invent things that were of practical benefit to humanity. He was clear about his purpose. He wasn't simply interested in personal acclaim or riches. And he pursued his endeavours with a "never give up" spirit. Let's not give up in our efforts to help even a single person become happy.
[Adapted from GT4-155]

Human revolution is any action that leads to positive change... in the inner realm of a person's life.

When a person who is seriously ill recovers, that is a great human revolution. When a mean person becomes kind to others, that is human revolution. When people who treat their parents poorly begin to respect and love them, that is human revolution. Human revolution cannot be pinned down to one specific thing. It is any action that leads to positive change or improvement in the inner realm of a person's life.
[GT4-154] *

Strength is the source of happiness

Strength is the source of happiness. We mustn't shy away from life's challenges. We mustn't be defeated. Refusing to be defeated equals victory. A person who perseveres to the end is a winner.
[GT4-153] *

Making Determination, Resolution. Never be defeated! Persevere!

Anyone who has ever made a resolution discovers that the strength of their determination fades with time. The moment you feel that happening is when you should make a fresh determination.
[GT4-135] *

Chinese Proverbs

The following quotes are taken from: http://thinkexist.com/quotes/chinese_proverbs/

"The more you sweat in peace time, the less you bleed in war time"

"To forget one's ancestor's is to be a brook without a source, a tree without root”

"Outside noisy, inside empty”

“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.”