No One Saves Us But Ourselves

This quote is rooted in a genuine Buddhist teaching but is not a direct translation of Dhammapada verse 276. That verse reads: "You yourselves must strive; the Buddhas only point the way" (Acharya Buddharakkhita translation). The popular English wording traces to Paul Carus's 1894 book Karma: A Story of Buddhist Ethics, where he elaborated the verse into a more poetic form, adding phrases not present in the Pali. The core teaching is authentic: the Buddha insisted that liberation must be achieved through one's own effort, not through prayer or reliance on an external savior.