We shouldn't put anything off but seize the moment, living with all our being in the present and become eternity

Henry David Thoreau, a renowned American Renaissance thinker, wrote in his journal: "Nothing must be postponed. Take time by the forelock. Now or never! You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment." We shouldn't put anything off but seize the moment, living with all our being in the present. If we do that, he says, each moment will become eternity.

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda 13/2

During our most humbling moments that we should show greatest poise and grace, then the dignity of our lives will truly shine

There is a saying that the earth upon which we fall is the same ground which enables us to push ourselves up again. There's another which maintains that barley grows better after it has been trampled on. Human relationships are sometimes painful, but there is no such pain from which we cannot recover. It is up to us to decide to live a life free from self-doubt and despair in spite of our failures. Indeed, it is during our most humbling moments that we should show greatest poise and grace. Then the dignity of our lives will truly shine.

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda 22/1

Moment of each day

When we are aware that each moment of each day, each gesture and step we take, is truly mystical and full of wonder, we will live our lives with greater thought and care. We will also have greater respect and appreciation for the lives of others. 23/4

Buddhism teaches that life at each moment embraces all phenomena

Wisdom for Modern Life by Daisaku Ikeda 17/3


Buddhism teaches that life at each moment embraces all phenomena. This is the doctrine of a life-moment possessing three thousand realms, which is the Lotus Sutra's ultimate teaching and Buddhism's essence. Because of the profound way our lives interact with people around us, it is vital that we reach out to others, that we be engaged with our environment and with our local community. A self-absorbed practice or theory without action is definitely not Buddhism.