“If You Want to Be Happy, Practise Compassion” — Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama’s most quoted line says the same thing twice, and the repetition is the whole point: compassion makes others happy, and it makes you happy too. For him, looking after others and looking after yourself are not rivals — compassion is the single practice that does both. Here is the quote, its real source, and what it means.
“If you want others to be happy, practise compassion. If you want to be happy, practise compassion.” — The 14th Dalai Lama
What it means
Most of us treat self-interest and concern for others as a trade-off: time and care spent on others is subtracted from ourselves. The Dalai Lama’s couplet quietly denies this. By stating the same prescription — practise compassion — as the answer to both wishes, he claims that the divide is false. The very thing that benefits others turns out to benefit you.
He is not being naïve about it. His point, developed across his writing, is that a mind absorbed in itself — its worries, grievances, and demands — is a small and anxious place to live, while a mind turned toward others’ wellbeing is naturally more open, steady, and content. Compassion, in this view, is not a sacrifice you make despite wanting to be happy; it is, as it happens, the most reliable route to it.
That is a strong claim, and he means it as something to test, not merely believe — which fits a tradition that prizes verifying teachings in your own experience.
Where it comes from — and who said it
The line is the Dalai Lama’s own, from his essay on compassion and the purpose of life, published on his official site, dalailama.com. We attribute it to him, not to the Buddha — though it grows from the heart of Buddhist ethics. (You will often see it pinned to the book The Art of Happiness; that attribution is unverified, so we cite the essay instead.)
The Dalai Lama is the foremost living teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, and compassion (karuṇā) is the centre of his message — the natural partner of the loving-kindness the Buddha taught. To read more about him, see our profile of the Dalai Lama.
Browse more sourced lines in our Buddhist quotes collection.
Frequently asked questions
Did the Dalai Lama really say this?
Yes. The line appears in his own essay on compassion and the purpose of life, published on his official website (dalailama.com). It is genuinely his — and we cite it as the Dalai Lama's words, not the Buddha's. (It is often attributed to the book The Art of Happiness, but that attribution is unconfirmed; the official essay is the reliable source.)
What does the quote mean?
It makes a single point twice, on purpose: compassion is the source of happiness both ways round. Practise it and you make others happier; practise it and you become happier yourself. For the Dalai Lama, self-interest and concern for others are not opposites — genuine compassion is the one practice that serves both at once.
Is the spelling 'practise' correct?
Yes — that is the British spelling used in the original, where 'practise' is the verb. American English would write 'practice.' The wording is otherwise exactly as published.
Sources
- His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, 'The Purpose of Life' (compassion essay), dalailama.com — https://www.dalailama.com/messages/transcripts-and-interviews/the-purpose-of-life-is-to-be-happy