We all want happy moments to last. But the reality is, nothing is permanent in life that anything can change overnight. If we are attached to the happy experiences, we are bound to feel sad and despair when things change. If you want to end the suffering of attachment, these best Buddhist quotes on change, impermanence and letting go will help you.
Table of Contents
Buddhist Quotes on Change
1. “Nothing is permanent, except change.” The Buddha
2. “Somehow, in the process of trying to deny that things are always changing, we lose our sense of the sacredness of life. We tend to forget that we are part of the natural scheme of things.” Pema Chodron
3. “If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
4. “Everything Changes.” Suzuki Roshi
5. “Life is expressed in a perpetual sequence of changes. The birth of the child is the death of the baby, just as the birth of the adolescent is the death of the child.” Arnaud Desjardins
6. “Like a robe wears out over time and turns to rags, life wears out from day to day, from second to second.” Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
7. 'Better a single day of life seeing the reality of arising and passing away than a hundred years of existence remaining blind to it.' The Buddha Share on X
8. “The entire world is ablaze, the entire world is going up in smoke. The entire world is burning the entire world is vibrating.” The Buddha
9. “Do not encumber your mind with useless thoughts. What good does it do to brood on the past or anticipate the future? Remain in the simplicity of the present moment.” Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
10. “We must make good use of this life for the time that we have left, This brief flash of light, like the sun appearing through the clouds.” Kalu Rinpoche
11. “When faced with all the ups and downs of life, still the mind remains unshaken, not lamenting, not generating defilements, always feeling secure; this is the greatest happiness.” The Buddha
12. “One moment can change a day, one day can change a life and one life can change the world.” The Buddha
Related: Rumi Quotes on Silence, Happiness and Love (POETIC)
Buddhist Quotes on Impermanence
13. ”Every single moment we’re undergoing birth and death. This is the way things are.” The Buddha
14. “The world is afflicted by death and decay. But the wise do not grieve, having realized the nature of the world.” The Buddha, from Sutta Nipata
15. “Ardently do today what must be done. Who knows? Tomorrow, death comes.” The Buddha, Bhaddekaratta Sutta
16. “Life is fragile, like the dew hanging delicately on the grass, crystal drops that will be carried away on the first morning breeze.” Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
17. “When you see that there’s nothing stable or substantial you can rely on, you’ll feel wearied and disenchanted. Being disenchanted doesn’t mean you’re averse though. The mind is clear. It sees that there’s nothing to be done to remedy this state of affairs, it’s just the way the world is. Knowing in this way, you can let go of attachment, let go with a mind that is neither happy nor sad, but at peace with sankharas through seeing with wisdom their changing nature.”
18. 'Conditions are impermanent, subject to rise and fall. Having arisen they cease—their stilling is bliss.' The Buddha Share on X
19. “‘All conditioned things are impermanent’ — when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.” The Buddha, Dhammapada, verse 277
20. “Some do not understand that we must die, But those who do realize this settle their quarrels.” The Buddha, from 6th verse of the Dhammapada
21. “Better it is to live one day seeing the rise and fall of things than to live a hundred years without ever seeing the rise and fall of things.” The Buddha, from the Dhammapada
22. “Meditate … do not delay, lest you later regret it.” Sallekha Sutta
23. 'Impermanence is a principle of harmony. When we don’t struggle against it, we are in harmony with reality.' Pema Chodron Share on X
24. “Impermanent truly are conditioned things, having the nature of arising and passing away. If they arise and are extinguished, their eradication brings true happiness.” The Buddha
Related: 80 Pema Chödrön Quotes on Hope in Uncertain Times (When Things Fall Apart)
Buddhist Quotes on Letting Go
25. ”We are awakened to the profound realization that the true path to liberation is to let go of everything.” Jack Kornfield
26. “Children, old people, vagabonds laugh easily and heartily: they have nothing to lose and hope for little. In renunciation lies a delicious taste of simplicity and deep peace.” Matthieu Ricard
27. “Let go of all externals. Don’t go grasping at thoughts of your children and relatives, don’t grasp at anything whatsoever. Let go. Let the mind unite in a single point and let that composed mind dwell with the breath. Let the breath be its sole object of knowledge. Concentrate until the mind becomes increasingly subtle, until feelings are insignificant and there is great inner clarity and wakefulness. Then when painful sensations arise they will gradually cease of their own accord. Finally, you’ll look on the breath as if it was a relative come to visit you.” Ajaan Chah, Our Real Home A Talk to an Aging Lay Disciple Approaching Death
28. “You’ll see that if you have a lot of things, you have to leave a lot behind; if you have few you will leave behind few. Wealth is just wealth, long life is just long life, they’re nothing special.” Ajaan Chah
29. “Come back to square one, just the minimum bare bones. Relaxing with the present moment, relaxing with hopelessness, relaxing with death, not resisting the fact that things end, that things pass, that things have no lasting substance, that everything is changing all the time—that is the basic message.” Pema Chodron
30. 'Don't worry about the past or the future, just be still and you will reach the place where there's no advancing, no retreating and no stopping, where there's nothing to grasp at or cling to.' Ajaan Chah Share on X
31. “You should understand that even the Buddha himself, with his great store of accumulated virtue, could not avoid physical death. When he reached old age he relinquished his body and let go of its heavy burden. Now you too must learn to be satisfied with the many years you’ve already depended on your body. You should feel that it’s enough.” Ajaan Chah, Our Real Home A Talk to an Aging Lay Disciple Approaching Death
32. “We need a repeated discipline, a genuine training, in order to let go of our old habits of mind and to find and sustain a new way of seeing.” Jack Kornfield
33. “Even if your house is flooded or burnt to the ground, whatever the danger that threatens it, let it concern only the house. If there’s a flood, don’t let it flood your mind. If there’s a fire, don’t let it burn your heart. Let it be merely the house, that which is external to you, that is flooded and burnt. Allow the mind to let go of its attachments. The time is ripe.” Ajaan Chah, Our Real Home A Talk to an Aging Lay Disciple Approaching Death
34. “It’s like the water of a river. It naturally flows down the gradient, it never flows against it; that’s its nature. If a person were to go and stand on a river bank and, seeing the water flowing swiftly down its course, foolishly want it to flow back up the gradient, he would suffer.” Ajaan Chah, Our Real Home A Talk to an Aging Lay Disciple Approaching Death
35. “When we let go of our battles and open our hearts to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present moment. This is the beginning and the end of spiritual practice.” Jack Kornfield
Related: Lao Tzu Quotes on Love, Happiness & Leadership (Tao Te Ching)
Buddhist Quotes on Life
36. “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.” The Buddha
37. “Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.” The Buddha
38. “You’ve been alive a long time. Your eyes have seen any number of forms and colors, your ears have heard so many sounds, you’ve had any number of experiences. And that’s all they were — just experiences. You’ve eaten delicious foods, and all the good tastes were just good tastes, nothing more. The unpleasant tastes were just unpleasant tastes, that’s all. If the eye sees a beautiful form, that’s all it is, just a beautiful form. An ugly form is just an ugly form. The ear hears an entrancing, melodious sound and it’s nothing more than that. A grating, disharmonious sound is simply so.” Ajaan Chah, Our Real Home A Talk to an Aging Lay Disciple Approaching Death
39. “Live every act fully, as if it were your last.” The Buddha
40. “One moment can change a day, one day can change a life and one life can change the world.”
41. 'No matter how hard the past you can always begin again.' The Buddha Share on X
42. “She who knows life flows, feels no wear or tear, needs no mending or repair.” The Buddha
43. “To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.”
44. “Each moment is a chance for us to make peace with the world.” Thich Nhat Hanh
45. “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” The Buddha
Related: 103 Quotes about Living Life To The Fullest & In the Moment
Fake Buddhist Quotes
46. “You can only lose what you cling to.”
47. “Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.”
See also: Fake Buddha Quotes