No one saves us but ourselves,
No one can and no one may.
We ourselves must walk the path
Buddhas merely teach the way.
By ourselves is evil done,
By ourselves is pain endured,
By ourselves we cease from wrong,
By ourselves become we pure.

Another quote →

Source, in full

Ch. 165, as translated in The Dharma, or The Religion of Enlightenment; An Exposition of Buddhism (1896) by Paul Carus; variants for some years have included "We ourselves must walk the path but Buddhas clearly show the way", but this is not yet located in any of the original publications of Carus.

More quotes by Gautama Buddha

All Gautama Buddha quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Gautama Buddha (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.