Yes. For quotations short enough to fit, 'Make a card' opens our quote image maker with the quotation and its source already filled in, so the attribution travels with it. Please keep the source line when you share: an unsourced 'Buddha quote' is how misattributions spread.

A real quotation for what you are feeling

Buddhist Quote Finder

Built by Tim Yu, Founder & Editor · Published 22 October 2026

Free, no account, nothing stored on our servers · How we check · Report a correction

The Buddhist quote finder matches how you feel, or a word you type, to real quotations: mostly the Buddha's words from the Pali discourses, with a few from Mahāyāna sūtras and later teachers, 180 in all. Each one names its source, says whose words they are when they are not the Buddha's, and links to the page that explains it. Free, with no account, and nothing you type is saved.

How are you feeling?

Or search for a word

Choose a feeling or type a word. 180 quotations, each cited to its source on our pages.

Searched in your browser. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere.

Why every quotation here is sourced

Much of what circulates as a “Buddha quote” was never said by the Buddha: lines from modern writers, paraphrases that drifted, and sayings with no text behind them at all. This finder draws only on quotations that our pages already cite to a named text, and where that text is online our quotation audit compares them with the translation itself. If a line you love is not here, that is not proof it is false, only that we have not been able to trace it yet. For the best-known lines that are not the Buddha’s, and where they really come from, see quotes the Buddha never said.

A quotation also reads differently in its setting. The Buddha’s words were spoken to particular people with particular questions, so each card links to the section of our page that gives the context and to the full translation. For the stories behind single famous lines, browse all our sourced Buddhist quotes.

More ways in: one teaching a day with Daily Dharma, the Dhammapada, or turn a quotation into an image with the quote image maker. See all our free tools.

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Frequently asked questions

Are these real Buddha quotes?

Every one of the 180 quotations is copied from a page on this site where it is cited to its text and, where there is one, its translator; where that translation is online, our quotation audit matches the words against it. Most are the Buddha's words in the Pali discourses. Lines spoken by others, such as the god Sakka or the nun Ambapālī, and lines from later teachers say whose words they are. Untraceable sayings are left out.

How do I find a Buddhist quote for how I feel?

Choose the feeling closest to yours, such as angry, grieving or restless, and the finder shows the quotations from our page on that theme, each with its source. You can also type a word, like kindness or mother, to search every quotation at once, and narrow a feeling with a word.

Where does each quotation come from?

Under each quotation is where it comes from: the text and verse, and the translator where there is one. 'Read it in context' opens the section of our page that explains it, and, where the translation is online, 'Full text' opens it, usually on SuttaCentral, so you can read the lines around it.

Is anything I type saved?

No. The search runs in your browser, and nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere. If what you type suggests you might be in danger, the finder shows crisis support instead of a quotation.