“Thought is so cunning, so clever, that it distorts everything for its own convenience.”

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.

Transformation can only take place immediately; the revolution is now, not tomorrow.

How I am in the booth, how I am when I meet you, that’s how I am in general.

I was raised orthodox Muslim. Very sheltered, very conservative.

You’ve got to be twice as good to get half as far.

One of my strongest gifts is that I’m pretty straightforward.

There are times when I am so unlike myself that I might be taken for someone else of an entirely opposite character.

If you don’t get out there and define yourself, you’ll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others.

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.

Ninety-nine percent of leadership failures are failures of character.