Dhammapada

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The Dhammapada (roughly translated from the Pali as “the path of truth”), is a sort of “bible” for Buddhists.

It is a collection of 423 verses, divided into 26 chapters that are said to contain the teachings of Buddha (563-483 B.C.).

Each of the 26 chapters is organized around a common theme.

“Only love dispels hate” is found in Chapter One, a chapter that is sometimes referred to as Twin Verses, Dichotomies, or Choices. (Only Love Zen Sangha was named after that verse.)

Here are a few of the many good translations of that verse:

In this world
Hate never yet dispelled hate.
Only love dispels hate.
This is the law,
Ancient and inexhaustible.

– The Dhammapada
The Sayings of the Buddha
Thomas Byrom
1976, Bell Tower

For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time:
Hatred ceases by love, this is an old rule.

– The Dhammapada
The Essential Teachings of the Buddha
Dr. Friedrich Max Muller
1870, republished 2006 Sacred Wisdom

For hatred can never put an end to hatred; love alone can. This is an unalterable law.

– The Dhammapada
Eknath Easwaran
1985, Nilgiri Press

Hatred can never cease through hatred in this world; through love alone they cease. This is an eternal law.

– The Dhammapada
Pali Text and Translation With Stories in Brief and Notes
Narada Thera
1993, The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation

Animosity does not eradicate animosity.
Only by loving kindness is animosity dissolved.
This law is ancient and eternal.

– The Dhammapada
Ananda Maitreya
1995, Parallax Press

Hatred has never stopped hatred.
Only love stops hate.
This is the eternal law.

– The Still Point Dhammapada
Living the Buddha’s Essential Teachings
A Contemporary Rendering and Stories
Geri Larkin
2003, HarperSanFrancisco

Hatred never ends through hatred.
By non-hate alone does it end.
This is an ancient truth.

– The Dhammapada
A New Translation of the Buddhist Classic with Annotations
Gil Fronsdal
2005, Shambhala

In this world
hostilities are never
appeased by hostility.
But by the absence of hostility
are they appeased.
This is the interminable truth.

– The Dhammapada: Verses on THE WAY
A new translation of the teachings of the Buddha with a Guide to Reading the Text
Glenn Wallis
2004, The Modern Library

For hate is not conquered by hate:
hate is conquered by love.
This is the law eternal.

– The Dhammapada
Translated from the Pali with an introduction by Juan Mascaro
1973, Penguin Books