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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.

Daisaku Ikeda

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Daisaku Ikeda
Age: 96
Born: 1928
Born: January 2
Philosopher
Poet
President
Writer
City of Tokyo
Dazuo Chitian
Ta-tso Chʻih-tʻien
Humanity
Liberation
Peace
Buddhism
Culture
Healing
Art
Painful
Bloom
Life
Rose
Thorns
Like
Destiny
Roses
Flower
Stem
Inside
Karma

More quotes by Daisaku Ikeda

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Freedom doesn't mean the absence of all restrictions. It means possessing unshakable conviction in the face of any obstacle.
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Where there is an absence of international political leadership, civil society should step in to fill the gap, providing the energy and vision needed to move the world in a new and better direction.
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Great art is created only through diligent and painstaking effort to perfect and polish oneself.
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There are some among the so-called elite who are overbearing and arrogant. I want to foster leaders, not elitists.
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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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The Earth never ceases to spin. All life is dancing : The trees, the wind, the sea. Keep dancing for the rest of your life.
Daisaku Ikeda
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Having lived through the transition from totalitarianism, I am acutely mindful of the need to never take for granted the basic freedoms of thought, expression and belief that democracy brings.
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Dialogue starts from the courageous willingness to know and be known by others. It is the painstaking and persistent effort to remove all obstacles that obscure our common humanity.
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Rather than turning away from the staggering scale and depth of misery caused by war, we must strive to develop our capacity to empathize and feel the sufferings of others.
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Extreme poverty threatens people's right to life itself and makes impossible the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms essential to a humane way of life.
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Courage and compassion are two sides of the same coin. Compassion without courage is not genuine. You may have a compassionate thought or impulse, but if you don’t do or say anything, it’s not real compassion.
Daisaku Ikeda
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Youthfulness is not determined by age. It is determined by one's life force. One who possesses hope is forever young. One who continually advances is forever beautiful.
Daisaku Ikeda
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By changing our inner state of mind, we can change any suffering or hardship into a source of joy, regarding it as a means for forging and developing our lives. To turn even sorrow into a source of creativity - this is the way of life of a Buddhist
Daisaku Ikeda
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A great revolution in just one single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind.
Daisaku Ikeda
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We are responsible for our own destiny. What matters is how we improve ourselves from this moment forward.
Daisaku Ikeda
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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.
Daisaku Ikeda
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Never be shaken, no matter what happens or what others may say. Never be flustered never lose confidence. This is the way we should strive to live our lives. Being able to do so is a sign of genuine character.
Daisaku Ikeda
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Increase your joy by doing the good you wish to have done to you.
Daisaku Ikeda
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It is senseless to blame others or your environment for your miseries. Change begins from the moment you muster the courage to act. When you change, the environment will change. The power to change the world is found nowhere but within our own life.
Daisaku Ikeda
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Poems and songs penned as an unstoppable outpouring of the heart take on a life of their own. They transcend the limits of nationality and time as they pass from person to person, from one heart to another.
Daisaku Ikeda