Lynn M. Hamilton > Quotes

“The Dalai Lama teaches that the self lies somewhere beyond our bodies and our minds. He preaches that human nature is essentially good. Only the affection of a mother allows a child to survive. Only the baby’s affection for his mother drives him to feed from her breast. This shows, the Dalai Lama explains, that we are born into compassion and sustained by it. So our essential nature is compassionate.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“What does the Dalai Lama’s life teach us? Certainly, he is a sterling example of turning adversity into joyful service. But there is more to him than that: he is also a model of innovation and adaptation. He has taken the tenets of Buddhism and made them relevant to everyone. His message is not just about personal happiness and good karma; it is also very much about respecting the earth’s resources, recognizing the equality of all people, and sharing with the less fortunate.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“By “global ethics,” the Dalai Lama means that all people must take personal responsibility for ensuring human rights, fairness, equality, and environmental protection, regardless of their belief system.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“He met with Pope Paul VI, and they found common ground in their conviction that faith brings meaning to life regardless of the belief system.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“Often he says that practicing Buddhism is unnecessary. Everyone can find the keys to a purposeful and moral life within their own culture and religious framework.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“Through civil disobedience, India could free itself from tyranny while preserving a commitment to the peaceful ethics of all its major religions.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Gandhi: A Life Inspired

“The books he had read, the people he had met, and the ideas in which he had steeped himself for three years had transformed him.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Gandhi: A Life Inspired

“the Dalai Lama evolved daily habits that have remained largely unchanged up to the present. He rises at 4 a.m. and drinks warm water and a Tibetan medicinal drink. He spends five of the day’s hours in prayer.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“The Dalai Lama has also suggested that the fifteenth Dalai Lama could be female.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“In a letter, she wrote that nursing would need to remain a profession of quiet and unthanked service, not an endeavor where employees would expect accolades or public recognition.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Florence Nightingale: A Life Inspired

“By “global ethics,” the Dalai Lama means that all people must take personal responsibility for ensuring human rights, fairness, equality, and environmental protection, regardless of their belief system. He believes that people need not embrace Buddhism to live good lives. Often he says that practicing Buddhism is unnecessary. Everyone can find the keys to a purposeful and moral life within their own culture and religious framework.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“The Harley Street clientele was a collection of sad women, indeed. They were governesses who were either very sick or out of work. Most of them were unwanted by their families. It is worth noting that, in Victorian England, governesses were almost invariably well-born young ladies whose families had fallen on hard times. They worked long hours for wealthy families, often put up with abusive children, and made a pittance. It was rare for a governess to save any significant amount of money. The Harley Street home was a way station for some and an end-of-life hospice for others.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Florence Nightingale: A Life Inspired

“One of his most remarkable reforms is to state unequivocally that religion should not oppose itself to science. “Where Buddhist teachings contradict science, science should prevail,” he has said.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“One soldier wrote home saying that he and his peers sought to kiss her shadow.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Florence Nightingale: A Life Inspired

“But Florence Nightingale was not born into such a family. She was, instead, born to a wealthy English couple who could afford a honeymoon that took several years and spanned the European continent. The honeymoon of William Edward and Frances Nightingale went on for so long that their two daughters were both born before the couple returned to their home in England. Florence was named after the Italian city where she was born. Her sister, Frances Parthenope,was similarly named in honor of her parents’ travels: Parthenopolis is an ancient Greek settlement in Naples.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Florence Nightingale: A Life Inspired

“we all want to be happy. But our happiness depends on the actions of the rest of the world, so it behooves us to develop global perspective. Many of our problems—poverty, bullying, and violence—are man-made problems that are within our control. These problems emerge because we forget the oneness of humanity. We need to look past the secondary level of differences and make sacrifices, he explained.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“He noted that we are all humans who share a common emotional concern: we all want to be happy. But our happiness depends on the actions of the rest of the world, so it behooves us to develop global perspective. Many of our problems—poverty, bullying, and violence—are man-made problems that are within our control. These problems emerge because we forget the oneness of humanity. We need to look past the secondary level of differences and make sacrifices, he explained.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“religion as a bridge to truth rather than a set of strictures—remained”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Gandhi: A Life Inspired

“Where Buddhist teachings contradict science, science should prevail,”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“The Crimean War earned the distinction of being the first time in British history that a medical corps was accused of negligence.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Florence Nightingale: A Life Inspired

“This belief in the underlying brotherhood of all people would blend seamlessly with his message of peace as he carved out his role as an international peace advocate.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“everyone must take responsibility not only for their own family and community but also for the problems of the world, which include overpopulation, environmental degradation, and human rights violations.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“Florence Nightingale’s greatest achievement was her ability to link infection to unclean environs despite the absence of the germ theory. Nightingale’s patients were also around a hundred years too early to benefit from the advent of antibiotics.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Florence Nightingale: A Life Inspired

“Gandhi went to London mostly alone, shy, poor, and friendless,”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Gandhi: A Life Inspired

“It has become a cliché to say that one person can make a difference, but the life of Mahatma Gandhi confronts us with the enduring truth of that statement.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Gandhi: A Life Inspired

“Nightingale had started to believe that, to be successful, nursing would need to be separate from the church, even though she believed that nursing was a spiritual calling.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Florence Nightingale: A Life Inspired

“Independence gained through violence could well end in a dictatorship.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Gandhi: A Life Inspired

“While other monks in training were routinely whipped with whips made of leather straps, the whip reserved for the Dalai Lama was made of yellow silk.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“What happened next was an amazing testament to the ongoing power that the Dalai Lama exercises in Tibet. The travelers returned to Tibet, and many of them immediately burned their tiger skins, even though they were worth approximately two years’ wages apiece. By this act, they honored the Dalai Lama’s edict to end the exploitation of Asia’s tigers.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, The Dalai Lama: A Life Inspired

“One hundred and fifty years ago, the respect we now have for nurses and the intense training that nurses must undergo was nothing but a seed in Florence Nightingale’s imagination. If we believe that nurses are some of the most respectable and hardworking people in our community, we owe that belief to Florence Nightingale.”
― Lynn M. Hamilton, Florence Nightingale: A Life Inspired