“Despair exists only when there is hope.”

To meditate is to observe yourself, for you are totally responsible for your body, mind, thought.

Throughout life, from childhood, from school until we die, we are taught to compare ourselves with another; yet when I compare myself with another I am destroying myself.

What you believe you experience.

The fundamental factor of self-deception is this constant desire to be something in this world and in the world hereafter.

The moment I am aware that I am aware, I am not aware. Awareness means the observer is not.

From innumerable complexities we must grow to simplicity; we must become simple in our inward life and in our outward needs.

The more you know yourself, the more clarity there is. Self-knowledge has no end – you don’t come to an achievement, you don’t come to a conclusion. It is an endless river.

Change in society is of secondary importance; that will come about naturally, inevitably, when you as a human being bring about the change in yourself.

Enlightenment is an accident, but some activities make you accident-prone.

The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear.

Merely to stuff the child with a lot of information, making him pass examinations, is the most unintelligent form of education.

Contentment is not happiness. Contentment is stagnation and decay, whereas happiness is life and growth.

The very desire to be certain, to be secure, is the beginning of bondage.It’s only when the mind is not caught in the net of certainty, and is not seeking certainty, that it is in a state of discovery.

The function of education is to help you from childhood not to imitate anybody, but be yourself all the time.

It’s no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

Knowledge is an addiction, as drink; knowledge does not bring understanding. Knowledge can be taught, but not wisdom; there must be freedom from knowledge for the coming of wisdom.

You know that I could as soon forget you as my existence!

I cannot express it: but surely you and everybody have a notion that there is, or should be, an existence of yours beyond you.

It is so much easier to live placidly and complacently. Of course, to live placidly and complacently is not to live at all.

Deep in each man is the knowledge that something knows of his existence. Something knows, and cannot be fled nor hid from.

A role model in the flesh provides more than inspiration; his or her very existence is confirmation of possibilities one may have every reason to doubt, saying, “Yes, someone like me can do this.”

Our starting point is not the individual: We do not subscribe to the view that one should feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, or clothe the naked. Our objectives are different: We must have a healthy people in order to prevail in the world.

Have you never heard what the wise men say: all of the future exists in the past.

The Deist needs none of those tricks and shows called miracles to confirm his faith, for what can be a greater miracle than the creation itself, and his own existence?