In short: the Buddha said no one can practice for you: "You yourselves must do the work, the Realized Ones just show the way" (Dhammapada 276). Diligence (appamāda) runs through his whole teaching, right up to his last words. Here are seven genuine quotes on effort, each with its source.
1. Dhammapada 276
"You yourselves must do the work, the Realized Ones just show the way. Meditators practicing absorption are released from Māra's bonds."
2. Dhammapada 25
"By hard work and diligence, by restraint and by self-control, a smart person would build an island that the floods cannot overflow."
3. Dhammapada 21
"Heedfulness is the state free of death; heedlessness is the state of death. The heedful do not die, while the heedless are like the dead."
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4. Dhammapada 116
"Rush to do good, shield your mind from evil; for when you're slow to do good, your thoughts delight in wickedness."
5. Dhammapada 280
"They don't get going when it's time to start; they're young and strong, but given to sloth. Their mind depressed in sunken thought, lazy and slothful, they can't discern the path."
The danger of waiting for "later".
6. Dhammapada 168
"Get up, don't be heedless, live by principle, with good conduct. For one of good conduct sleeps at ease, in this world and the next."
7. DN 16, the Buddha's last words
"Conditions fall apart. Persist with diligence."
All quotes are from the early Buddhist texts in Bhikkhu Sujato's translation on SuttaCentral, copied exactly. Last checked: 17 October 2026.
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Questions people ask
What did the Buddha say about effort?
'You yourselves must do the work, the Realized Ones just show the way' (Dhammapada 276).