An oak tree is an oak tree. That is all it has to do. If an oak tree is less than an oak tree, then we are all in trouble. - Thích Nhất Hạnh

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Engraved portrait of Thích Nhất Hạnh, facing right

An oak tree is an oak tree. That is all it has to do. If an oak tree is less than an oak tree, then we are all in trouble.

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About Thích Nhất Hạnh

Thích Nhất Hạnh (born as Nguyễn Xuân Bảo; 11 October 1926 – 22 January 2022) was an expatriate Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist, and prolific author in both Vietnamese and English. Nhất Hạnh is most commonly referred to as Thích Nhất Hạnh, in which the Vietnamese title Thích (釋), derived from "Thích Ca" or "Thích Già" (釋迦) and applied to all Vietnamese Buddhist monks and nuns, means "of the Shakya (Shakyamuni Buddha) clan".

Biography information from Wikiquote · Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, Duc (pixiduc) from Paris, France. (CC BY-SA)

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Nhat Hanh Nguyễn Đình Lang Nguyễn Xuân Bảo Trừng Quang Phùng Xuân Thầy Nhất Hạnh Thiền Sư Nhất Hạnh Thich Nhat Hanh

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Additional quotes by Thích Nhất Hạnh

LEARNING LOVE If our parents didn’t love and understand each other, how are we to know what love looks like? There aren’t courses or classes in love. If the grown-ups know how to take care of each other, then the children who grow up in this environment will naturally know how to love, understand, and bring happiness to others. The most precious inheritance that parents can give their children is their own happiness. Our parents may be able to leave us money, houses, and land, but they may not be happy people. If we have happy parents, we have received the richest inheritance of all.

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During the war in Vietnam, we young Buddhists organized ourselves to help victims of the war rebuild villages that had been destroyed by the bombs. Many of us died during service, not only because of the bombs and the bullets, but because of the people who suspected us of being on the other side. We were able to understand the suffering of both sides, the communists and the anti-communists. We tried to be open to both, to understand this side and to understand that side, to be one with them. That is why we did not take a side, even though the whole world took sides. We tried to tell people our perception of the situation: that we wanted to stop the fighting. But the bombs were so loud. Sometimes we had to burn ourselves alive to get the message across, but even then the world couldn't hear us.

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