Thich Nhat Hanh

1926–2022 · Vietnamese Zen monk, peace activist and author

Thích Nhất Hạnh (born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo, 1926–2022) was a Vietnamese Thiền (Zen) Buddhist monk, poet and peace activist, and one of the most widely read Buddhist authors in English. In the mid-1960s he co-founded the School of Youth for Social Services and created the Order of Interbeing; he was exiled from South Vietnam in 1966 after expressing opposition to the war and refusing to take sides, and Martin Luther King Jr. nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize the following year. In 1982 he co-founded the Plum Village monastery in the Dordogne with the nun Chân Không, and in 1986 co-founded Parallax Press in Berkeley with Arnie Kotler.

Traced to source

7 quotes we’ve traced to Thich Nhat Hanh

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment”

Verified

“The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence”

Attributed

“Your true home is in the here and the now”

Attributed

“It is possible to live happily in the present moment. It is the only moment we have”

Disputed

“My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions”

Disputed

“The moment you know how your suffering came to be, you are already on the path of release from it”

Disputed

“The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There's only one moment for you to live”

Disputed

Not actually Thich Nhat Hanh

Often misattributed to Thich Nhat Hanh

Famous lines widely pinned on Thich Nhat Hanh that we’ve traced to someone else.

“Don't just do something, sit there”

actually Ollie Crawford

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