Daisaku Ikeda Quotes
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People can only live fully by helping others to live. When you give life to friends you truly live. Cultures can only realize their further richness by honoring other traditions. And only by respecting natural life can humanity continue to exist.
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The differences between people need not act as barriers that wound, harm and drive us apart. Rather, these very differences among cultures and civilizations should be valued as manifestations of the richness of our shared creativity.
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Human beings are inherently endowed with the power to bring out the best possible results from the worst possible circumstances.
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Hardships make us strong. Problems give birth to wisdom. Sorrows cultivate compassion. Those who have suffered the most will become the happiest.
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Our voice resonates with life. Because this is so, it can touch the lives of others. The caring and compassion imbued in your voice finds passage to the listener's soul, striking his or her heart and causing it to sing out; the human voice summons something profound from deep within, and can even compel a person into action.
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Rise to the challenges that life presents you. You can't develop genuine character and ability by sidestepping adversity and struggle.
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One's true worth as a human being is not a matter of outward appearance or title, but derives rather from the breadth of one's spirit. Everything comes down to faith and conviction. It is what is in one's heart, and the substance of one's actions that count.
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Whatever the outcome may be, the important thing is to step forward on the path that you believe is right.
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The economy is after all driven by people. No matter how dire the situation may be, as long as people are firm, a turnaround, revival and progress can be possible.
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Reality is harsh. It can be cruel and ugly. Yet no matter how much we grieve over our environment and circumstances nothing will change. What is important is not to be defeated, to forge ahead bravely. If we do this, a path will open before us.
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While conservatism and self-protection might be likened to winter, night, and death, the spirit of pioneering and attempting to realize ideals evokes images of spring, morning, and birth.
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Keep moving forward, even one or two steps, in your own way. Those who live out their lives to the fullest, unperturbed by the noisy clamor around them, are the true winners.
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Nothing is more precious than peace. Peace is the most basic starting point for the advancement of humankind.
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Before comparing yourself with others, win the battle with yourself. Strive to be better today than yesterday, and better tomorrow than today.
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If you summon your courage to challenge something, you’ll never be left with regret. How sad it is to spend your life wishing, “If only I’d had a little more courage.” Whatever the outcome may be, the important thing is to step forward on the path that you believe is right.
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Life is filled with potential that is truly unfathomable. At last we are coming to see the enormous power it possesses. That is why we must never write anyone off. In particular, we mustn’t put boundaries on our own potential. In most cases, our so-called limitations are nothing more than our own decision to limit ourselves.
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Life is painful. It has thorns, like the stem of a rose. Culture and art are the roses that bloom on the stem. The flower is yourself, your humanity. Art is the liberation of the humanity inside yourself.
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True happiness means forging a strong spirit that is undefeated, no matter how trying our circumstances.
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No matter what our personal circumstances may be, if we ourselves become a source of light, then there will be no darkness in the world.
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Every war, when viewed from the undistorted perspective of life’s sanctity, is a “civil war” waged by humanity against itself.
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Leave behind the passive dreaming of a rose-tinted future. The energy of happiness exists in living today with roots sunk firmly in reality's soil.
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It is precisely when we have suffered defeat that we can determine to win and open the path to future victory.
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While it is important to win, it’s even more important to remain undefeated no matter what happens.
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Do something! Start something! As you make consistent efforts, you will begin to see your goals come into focus. You will discover your mission--the one only you can fulfill.