Just as worn-out clothes can never again be made as new,
It’s no use seeing a doctor once you’re terminally ill;
You’ll have to go. We humans living on this earth
Are like streams and rivers flowing toward the ocean –
All living beings are heading for that single destination.

Now, like a small bird flying off from a treetop,
I, too, will not be here much longer; soon I must move on.

Padampa Sangye

from the book The Hundred Verses of Advice: Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on What Matters Most

translated by Padmakara Translation Group


Read a random quote or see all quotes by Padampa Sangye.

Further quotes from the book The Hundred Verses of Advice:

• How illness can teach us compassion
• Devotion is the fare on our journey toward enlightenment
• Use riches in a constructive way
• You won’t live forever
• Put on the armor of diligence
• The mind is free of any true reality
• The most profound spiritual practice
• The Dharma is the best way of using your life
• There is never any time to spare
• Practice with joy and enthusiasm
• Start that very day
• Overcoming obstacles
• Without settling anywhere
• Precious human life
• Dreamlike obsessions
• The right moment is now
• The union of clarity and emptiness
• Right here beside you
• Like the events in a dream
• Don’t go on following the past