Detachment Quotes & Buddhist Sayings on Letting Go
These quotes on detachment are enlightening and help to illustrate why detaching from thoughts, objects and outcomes are important for our health and happiness.
What is the meaning of detachment?
Detachment (in Buddhist philosophy) means to separate ourselves from our own thoughts, opinions and beliefs if they don’t serve us.
It’s not so much about being standoffish, or uninterested, but it’s having the ability to ‘stand back’, really consider thoughts and feelings that arise and refocus or adjust as required.
Detaching from objects, people and outcomes is also a sign of freedom and enlightenment in Buddhism. Again, not in an ‘aloof’ or non-caring way, but it’s about not placing all our hopes and dreams on outcomes that are beyond our control – which of course leads to angst and unhappiness.
The following quotes about detachment all help to illustrate the meaning of in terms of Buddhist philosophy more thoroughly:
Detachment Quotes
“Detachment is not giving up the things in this world but accepting the fact and to be continuously aware that nothing is permanent.” Aditya Ajmera
“Detachment is an art of enjoying something while always being open to the possibility of losing it someday.” John B. Bejo
“Letting go gives us freedom, and freedom is the only condition for happiness. If, in our heart, we still cling to anything – anger, anxiety, or possessions – we cannot be free.” Thich Nhat Hanh
“Detachment is not indifference. it is the prerequisite for effective involvement. Often what we think is best for others is distorted by our attachments to our opinions. We want others to be happy in the way we think they should be happy. It is only when we want nothing for ourselves that we are able to see clearly into others needs and understand how to serve them.” Mahatma Gandhi
“Don’t cling to things because everything is impermanent.” Mitch Albom
“True detachment isn’t separation from life but the absolute freedom within your mind to explore living.” Ron. W. Rathbun
“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” Thich Nhat Hanh
“Manifest plainness, embrace simplicity, reduce selfishness, have few desires.” Lao Tzu
“Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.” Simone Weil
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” Thich Nhat Hanh
“Only in the stillness of detachment can the soul yield up her secrets.” Elsa Barker
“Like everything else, we know the futility of money only when we have more than enough of it.” R. N. Prasher
“Remain in the world, act in the world, do whatsoever is needful, and yet remain transcendental, aloof, detached, a lotus flower in the pond.” Osho
“Detached action is unselfish work.” Bhagavad Gita
“Release and detach from every person, every circumstance, every condition, and every situation that no longer serves a divine purpose in your life. All things have a season, and all seasons must come to an end. Choose a new season, filled with purposeful thoughts and activities.” Iyanla Vanzant
“This detachment must not be mere amputation; everything which is shaken off must be simultaneously found again at a higher level.” Gabriel Marcel
“Detachment is not that you should own nothing. But that nothing should own you.” Ali ibni abi Talib
“In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty…in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning. And in our willingness to step into the unknown, the field of all possibilities, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the universe.” Deepak Chopra
“If you don’t do yoga, it doesn’t mean that you can’t have a sense of detachment, which means not attaching yourself to your thoughts or your emotions.” Mandy Ingber
“Detachment does not mean non-involvement. You can be deeply involved but not entangled.” Jaggi Vasudev
“He who would be serene and pure needs but one thing, detachment.” Meister Eckhart
Detachment Quotes Buddha
“Life is easy for the man who is without shame, impudent as a crow, a vicious gossip, vain, meddlesome, dissolute. But life is hard for the man who quietly undertakes the way of perfection, with purity, detachment and vigor. He sees light.” Gautama Buddha
“You can only lose what you cling to.” Gautama Buddha
“Better a single day of life seeing the reality of arising and passing away than a hundred years of existence remaining blind to it.” Gautama Buddha
“There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind.” Gautama Buddha
Best Quotes About Detachment
“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” Thich Nhat Hanh
“A burning passion coupled with absolute detachment is the key to all success.” Mahatma Gandhi
“They should tell you when you’re born: have a suitcase heart, be ready to travel.” Gabrielle Zevin
“Your heart must become a sea of love. Your mind must become a river of detachment.” Sri Chinmoy
“The monsters of our childhood do not fade away, neither are they ever wholly monstrous. But neither, in my experience, do we ever reach a plane of detachment regarding our parents, however wise and old we may become. To pretend otherwise is to cheat.” John le Carre
“Detachment is not about refusing to feel or not caring or turning away from those you love. Detachment is profoundly honest, grounded firmly in the truth of what is.” Sharon Salzberg
“The benefits of detachment in the face of intense emotional activity can’t be overstated. It doesn’t cut you off from your heart center; it opens you more. In fact, when you refrain from absorbing the energy around you, you’ll remain clear and grounded, you’ll be able to easily access your creative and intuitive channel, and you’ll be able to choose to use the messages you receive from your Higher Self.” Sonia Choquette
For more inspirational quotes, be sure to check out:
