Like a fish that is pulled out of the water and thrown on the dry ground thrashes about and quivers, the mind thrashes about from thought to thought. That is why one should try to escape from the realm of Māra.
—The Buddha, Dhammapada 34
Difficult is life for someone who has shame of wrongdoing, who is always searching for purity, innocent, cautious, and values righteous living.
—The Buddha, Dhammapada 245
He whose track no god, no angel, or no human can trace, the liberated one whose impurities are destroyed—him do I call a Brāhmin.
—The Buddha, Dhammapada 420
Do not think lightly of merit, saying, “It will not come back to me!” Drop by drop is the water pot filled. Likewise, the wise person gathering it little by little is filled with merit.
—The Buddha, Dhammapada 122