Great Throughts Treasury

"External life is the shadow of the inner reality."

"Forbearance, patience and tolerance are the only conditions which keep two individual hearts united."

"For the value of everything exists for man only so long as he does not understand it. When he has fully understood, the value is lost, be it the lowest thing or the highest thing. "

"From the metaphysical point of view there is nothing that can touch the formless except the art of music which in itself is formless."

"God is within you; you are His instrument, and through you He expresses Himself to the external world."

"God is love - three words which open up an unending realm for the thinker who desires to probe the depths of the secret of life."

"He who can quicken the feeling of another to joy or to gratitude, by that much he adds to his own life."

"He who expects to change the world will be disappointed; he must change his view. When this is done, then tolerance will come, forgiveness will come, and there will be nothing he cannot bear."

"He who has spent has used; he who has collected has lost; but he who has given has saved his treasure forever."

"He who arrives at the state of indifference without experiencing interest in life is incomplete and apt to be tempted by interest at any moment; but he who arrives at the state of indifference by going through interest really attains the blessed state."

"Great tenderness and watchfulness is required from each one of us."

"He who wants to understand, will understand."

"He who with sincerity seeks his real purpose in life is himself sought by that purpose."

"How can one explain spiritual progress? What is it? What is it like? Spiritual progress is the changing of the point of view."

"He who is looking for a reward is smaller than his reward; he who has renounced a thing has risen above it."

"I first believed without any hesitation in the existence of the soul, and then I wondered about the secret of its nature. I persevered and strove in search of the soul, and found at last that I myself was the cover over my own soul. I realized that that in me which believed and that in me that wondered, that which was found at last, was no other than my soul. I thanked the darkness that brought me to the light, and I valued this veil that prepared for me the vision in which I saw myself reflected, the vision produced in the mirror of my soul. Since then, I have seen all souls as my soul, and realized my soul as the soul of all. And what bewilderment it was when I realized that I alone was, if there were anyone, that I am whatever and whoever exists, and that I shall be whoever there will be in the future. "

"Hence every person can be called a Sufi either as long as he is seeking to understand life, or as soon as he is willing to believe that every other human being will also find and touch the same ideal. When a person opposes or hinders the expression of a great ideal, and is unwilling to believe that he will meet his fellow men as soon as he has penetrated deeply enough into every soul, he is preventing himself from realizing the unlimited. All beliefs are simply degrees of clearness of vision. All are part of one ocean of truth. The more this is realized the easier is it to see the true relationship between all beliefs, and the wider does the vision of the one great ocean become."

"How can the unlimited Being be limited? All that seems limited is in its depth beyond all limitations."

"If people but knew their own religion, how tolerant they would become, and how free from any grudge against the religion of others. "

"I have found in every word a certain musical value, a melody in every thought, harmony in every feeling, and I have tried to interpret the same things with clear and simple words to those who used to listen to my music."

"I gave up my music because I had received from it all I had to receive. To serve God one must sacrifice the dearest thing, and I sacrificed my music, the dearest thing to me."

"If there is anything that will bring satisfaction it is diving deep into Love, and then we shall realize that there is nothing which is not just; we shall never again say that anything is unjust. This is the point the wise reach, and they call it the culmination of wisdom."

"It is a very high stage on the path of love when a man really learns to love another with a love that asks no return."

"If the eyes and ears are open, the leaves of the trees become as pages of the Bible."

"‎It always means that you must sacrifice something very dear to you when His call comes."

"It is according to the extent of our consciousness of prayer that our prayer reaches God."

"It is more important to find out the truth about one's self, than to find out the truth of heaven and hell."

"It is not the solid wood that can become a flute, it is the empty reed."

"It is the fruit that makes the tree bow low."

"It is the depth of thought that is powerful, and sincerity of feeling which creates atmosphere."

"It is the lover of God whose heart is filled with devotion who can commune with God, not he who makes an effort with his intellect to analyze God."

"It is the sincere devotee who knows best how to humble himself before God."

"Joy and sorrow both are for each other. If it were not for joy, sorrow could not be; and if it were not for sorrow, joy could not be experienced."

"Love brought man from the world of unity to that of variety, and the same force can take him back again to the world of unity from the world of variety."

"It is the soul's light which is natural intelligence."

"Joy and sorrow are the light and shade of life; without light and shade no picture is clear."

"It is the surface of the sea that makes waves and roaring breakers; the depth is silent."

"Life is a continual series of experiences, one leading to the other, until the soul arrives at its destination."

"Justice can never be developed while we judge others; the only way is by constantly judging ourselves."

"Life is a place where it is necessary to move gently. Whether it be in thought, speech, or action, the rhythm must be controlled; the law of harmony must be observed in all that one does."

"Life is a misery for the man absorbed in himself."

"Love alone is the fountain from which all virtues fall as drops of sparkling water."

"Life is what it is, you cannot change it; but you can always change yourself."

"Love is the merchandise which all the world demands; if you store it in your heart, every soul will become your customer."

"Man himself is the tree of desire, and the root of that tree is in his own heart."

"Love is unlimited, but it needs scope to expand and rise; without that scope, life is unhappy."

"Love manifests towards those whom we like as love; towards all those whom we do not like as forgiveness."

"Love is the divine Mother's arms; when those arms are spread, every soul falls into them."

"Man mistakes when he begins to cultivate the heart by wanting to sow the seed himself, instead of leaving the sowing to God."

"Man is the picture of the reflection of his imagination; he is as large or as small as he thinks himself."