Gautama Buddha (approx 563BC-483BC) was the original or ‘Supreme Buddha’ – a spiritual teacher who reached enlightenment and whose teachings Buddhism was founded on. The accepted story is that Gautama was born into a Royal family, but upon leaving the palace and witnessing the poor, sick and dying of India, he turned his back on worldly possessions and went in search of spiritual fulfilment. After years of meditation and studying with priests, Gautama reached enlightenment at age 35 and spent the rest of his life travelling and teaching disciples.

– Thanks to reader Aidan for submitting this quote.

– I am by no means an expert on Buddha so if you have insights on Buddha or his teachings, feel free to share in the comments.

– This quote is disputed on Wikiquotes as not being Buddha’s. Everywhere else I searched has him as the author so I went ahead with it.