“God does not send us despair in order to kill us; he sends it in order to awaken us to new life.”

If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn’t part of ourselves doesn’t disturb us.

I live in my dreams — that’s what you sense. Other people live in dreams, but not in their own. That’s the difference.

Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself.

When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane.

If time is not real, then the dividing line between this world and eternity, between suffering and bliss, between good and evil, is also an illusion.

Every phenomenon on earth is symbolic, and each symbol is an open gate through which the soul, if it is ready, can enter into the inner part of the world, where you and I and day and night are all one.

Chaos demands to be recognized and experienced before letting itself be converted into a new order.

We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps.

Wisdom is nothing but a preparation of the soul, a capacity, a secret art of thinking, feeling and breathing thoughts of unity at every moment of life.

People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.

What could I say to you that would be of value, except that perhaps you seek too much, that as a result of your seeking you cannot find.

Love must neither beg nor demand. Love must be strong enough to find certainty within itself. It then cease to be moved and becomes the mover.

Whoever wants music instead of noise, joy instead of pleasure, soul instead of gold, creative work instead of business, passion instead of foolery, finds no home in this trivial world of ours.

I began to understand that suffering and disappointments and melancholy are there not to vex us or cheapen us or deprive us of our dignity but to mature and transfigure us.

The best weapons against the infamies of life are courage, wilfulness and patience. Courage strenthens, wilfulness is fun and patience provides tranquility.

Those who cannot think or take responsibility for themselves need, and clamor for, a leader.