Someone asked me, “Aren’t you worried about the state of the world?” I allowed myself to breathe and then I said, “What is most important is not to allow your anxiety about what happens in the world to fill your heart. If your heart is filled with anxiety, you will get sick, and you will not be able to help.” There are wars — big and small — in many places, and that can cause us to lose our peace. Anxiety is the illness of our age. We worry about ourselves, our family, our friends, our work, and the state of the world. If we allow worry to fill our hearts, sooner or later we will get sick.
Thich Nhat Hanh
from the book The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
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Further quotes from the book The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching:
- Being really there
- The Middle Way between existent and nonexistent
- Right Diligence
- The only condition for happiness
- Truly free
- Fully alive and fully aware
- Allow yourself to be happy now
- Right Speech
- Just be
- Call for help
- Beyond birth and death