Buddha was not a pessimist or a doomsayer; he was a realist, while we tend to be escapists. When he stated that all assembled things are impermanent, he did not intend for that to be bad news; it is a simple, scientific fact. Depending on your perspective and on your understanding of this fact, it can become a gateway to inspiration and hope, glory and success.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

from the book What Makes You Not a Buddhist

Read a random quote or see all quotes by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche.

Further quotes from the book What Makes You Not a Buddhist:

• Clinging to our hopes and fears
• Today is the death of yesterday
• Appreciating the whole cycle of impermanence
• The real enemy
• Nonviolence
• Like moths to the flame
• Enjoying the bliss of ignorance
• The Self
• Like medicines
• Products and parts
• I don’t give a damn
• Your own ignorance betrays you
• Like monkeys
• The spiritual path is a temporary solution
• Emptiness
• A practicing Buddhist
• Beyond nonviolence and meditation
• Relationships
• Emotionally not possible