Great Throughts Treasury

"Mastery lies not merely in stilling the mind, but in directing it towards whatever point you desire."

"Narrowness is not necessarily devotion, but often appears so."

"No one should allow his mind to be a vehicle for others to use; He who does not direct his own mind lacks mastery."

"No-one has seen God and lived. To see God we must be non-existent."

"Our success or failure depends upon the harmony or disharmony of our individual will with the Divine. "

"One who is looking for a reward is smaller than the reward; one who has renounced a thing has risen above it."

"Our soul is blessed with the impression of the glory of God whenever we praise Him."

"One is never so strong as when one is broken. "

"Now if I do anything it is to tune souls instead of instruments. To harmonize people instead of notes. If there is anything in my philosophy, it is the law of harmony: that one must put oneself in harmony with oneself and with others."

"Our limited self is a wall separating us from the Self of God."

"Praise cannot exist without blame; it has no existence without its opposite."

"Our thoughts have prepared us for the happiness or unhappiness we experience."

"Reason is learned from the ever changing world, but true knowledge comes from the essence of life."

"Reason is the illusion of reality. "

"Riches and power may vanish because they are outside ourselves; only that which is within can we call our own."

"Seek Him in all souls, good or bad, wise and foolish, attractive and unattractive; in the depths of each there is God."

"Renunciation is always for a purpose; it is to kindle the soul that nothing may hold it back from God, but when it is kindled, the life of renunciation is not necessary."

"Sleep is comfortable, but awakening is interesting."

"Self-denial is not renouncing things, it is denying the self; and the first lesson of self-denial is humility."

"Self stands as a wall between man and God."

"Self-pity is the cause of all life's grievances."

"Sincerity is the jewel which forms in the shell of the heart."

"Spirit can only love spirit; in loving form it deludes itself."

"So long as a man has a longing to obtain any particular object, he cannot go further than that object."

"The control of self means the control of everything."

"The great teachers of humanity become streams of Love."

"The higher you rise, the wider becomes the margin of your view."

"The heart sleeps until it is awakened to life by a blow; it is as a rock, and the hidden fire flashes out when struck by another rock."

"The heart is not living until it has experienced pain."

"The highest and greatest goal that every soul has to reach is God. As everything needs renunciation, that highest goal needs the highest renunciation."

"The ideal of God is a bridge connecting the limited life with the unlimited; whosoever travels over this bridge passes safely from the limited to the unlimited life."

"The more elevated the soul, the broader the outlook."

"The message of God is like a spring of water: it rises and falls, and makes its way by itself."

"The knowledge of God is beyond man's reason; the secret of God is hidden in the knowledge of unity."

"The pain of love is the dynamite that breaks up the heart, even if it be as hard as rock."

"The poverty of one who has renounced is real riches compared with the riches of one who holds them fast."

"The plain truth is too simple for the seeker after complexity who is looking for things he cannot understand."

"The seeming death of the body is the real birth of the soul."

"The secret of a friend should be kept as one's own secret; the fault of a friend one should hide as one's own fault."

"The secret of happiness is hidden under the cover of spiritual knowledge."

"The soul is either raised or cast down by the power of its own thought, speech and action."

"The use of friendship for a selfish motive is like mixing bitter poison with the sweet rose-syrup."

"The solution to the problem of the day is the awakening of the consciousness of humanity to the divinity within. "

"The truth need not be veiled, for it veils itself from the eyes of the ignorant."

"The wave is the sea itself yet, when it rises in the form of a wave, it is the wave and when you look at the whole of it, it is the sea."

"The wave realizes I am the sea, and by falling into the sea prostrates itself before its God."

"The wise in all ages… have tried to learn one thing only, and that was resignation to the Will of God. By doing this, they have reached a stage at which they could see from God’s point of view."

"The whole purpose of life is to make God a reality."

"The wise man submits to conditions when he is helpless, bowing to the will of God. But the evil that is avoidable he roots out without sparing one single moment or effort."

"The wisdom and justice of God are within us, and yet they are far away, hidden by the veil of the limited self."