Selected Dhammapada Verses

As a bee gathers honey
from the flower without injuring its colour or fragrance,
even so the sage goes on his alms-round
in the the village. (Dh no. 49)

In a village or wilds,
valley, plateau:
that place is delightful
where arahants dwell. (Dh no. 98; Tr. Thanissaro Bhikkhu)

Though one may conquer
a thousand times a thousand men in battle,
yet he indeed is the noblest victor
who conquers himself. (Dh no. 103)

Hard is it to be born a man;
hard is the life of mortals.
Hard is it to gain the opportunity
of hearing the Sublime Truth,
and hard to encounter
is the arising of the Buddhas. (Dh no. 182)

To avoid all evil,
to cultivate good,
and to cleanse one's mind -
this is the teaching of the Buddhas. (Dh no. 183)

Enduring patience
is the highest austerity.
"Nibbana is supreme," says the Buddhas.
He is not a true monk
who harms another,
nor a true enunciate
who oppresses others. (Dh no. 186)

Driven only by fear,
do men go for refuge to many places -
to hills, woods, groves, groves, trees, shrines. (Dh. no. 188)

Such, indeed, is no safe refuge;
Such is not the refuge supreme.
Not by resorting to such a refuge
is one released from all suffering. (Dh. no. 189)

He who has gone for refuge
to the Buddha,
to his Teaching and his Order,
penetrates with transcendental wisdom
the four Noble Truths -
suffering,
the cause of suffering,
the cessation of suffering,
and the Noble Eightfold Path
leading to the cessation of suffering. (Dh. nos. 190, 191)

(Dhammapada, Venerable Buddharakkhita, reprinted by Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery, Singapore)