What now is the Noble Truth of Suffering?
Birth is suffering; decay is suffering; death is suffering; sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair are suffering; not to get what one desires is suffering; in short the five groups of existence are suffering.
- Samyutta Nikaya

It’s better to leave a misdeed undone.
A misdeed burns you afterwards.
Better that a good deed be done
that, after you’ve done it,
won’t make you burn.
- Dhammapada [22]

Forsaking dark practices,
the wise person
should develop the bright,
having gone from home
to no-home
in seclusion, so hard to enjoy.
There he should wish for delight,
discarding sensuality–
he who has nothing.
He should cleanse himself–wise–
of what defiles the mind.
Dhammapada [6]

A questioner asked the Buddha: “I would like to know about the state of peace, the state of solitude and of quiet detachment. How does a person become calm, independent, and not wanting to grasp at anything?”

“A person does this,” replied the Buddha, “by eradicating the delusion of ‘I am.’ By being alert and attentive, he begins to let go of cravings as they arise. But whatever he begins to accomplish, he should beware of inner pride. He must avoid thinking of himself as better than another, or worse or equal, for that is all comparison and emphasizes the self.
“The person should look for peace within and not depend on it in any other place. For when a person is quiet within, the self cannot be found. There are no waves in the depths of the ocean, it is still and unbroken. It is the same with the peaceful person. He is still, without any longing to grasp. He has let go the foundations of self and no longer builds up pride and desire.”
-Sutta Nipata

Even as rain breaks through an ill-thatched house,
So lust breaks through an ill-trained mind.

Even as rain breaks not through a well-thatched house,
So lust breaks not through a well-trained mind.
-Dhammapada [13-14]

As he neared a grove of trees, he met the Buddha coming from it. The Buddha smiled and took his hand. Together they went to a temple where two old monks were sweeping the floor. The Buddha said to them: “This young monk will live here with you from now on. Continue your sweeping, and as your brooms move back and forth, say the two-syllable mantra that I will now give you. Don’t stop until I come back.”

The young monk sat down and listened to the movement of the brooms, to and fro over the floor. He heard the whispered rhythm of the mantra as it was repeated over and over again. This went on for many weeks, and before the Buddha came back, the young monk had found full liberation and so had the two old monks.
-Majjhima Nikaya

He who seeks happiness should withdraw the arrow; his own lamentations, longings and grief. With the arrow withdrawn, unattached, he would attain to peace of mind; and when all sorrow has been transcended he is sorrow-free and has realized Nibbana.
-Sutta Nipata

Irrigators guide the water.
Fletchers shape the arrow shaft.
Carpenters shape the wood.
The wise control themselves.
-Dhammapada [6]

Greed is an imperfection that defiles the mind; hate is an imperfection that defiles the mind; delusion is an imperfection that defiles the mind.
-Buddha

Heedful among the heedless,
wakeful among those asleep,
just as the fast horse advances,
leaving the weak behind:
so the wise.
-Dhammapada [2]