Echoes

The world is nothing, the man is all; in yourself is the law of all nature, and you know not yet how a globule of sap ascends; in yourself slumbers the whole of Reason; it is for you to know all, it is for you to dare all.

What does your conscience say? — You should become who you are.

To find yourself, think for yourself.

Though the whole world should praise him, he would not be stimulated to greater endeavour, and though the whole world should condemn him, he would not be depressed. So fixed was he in the difference between the internal judgement of himself and the external judgement of others.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

The destiny of man is in his own soul.

He needs no library, for he has not done thinking; no church, for he is himself a prophet; no statute book, for he hath the Lawgiver; no money, for he is value itself; no road, for he is at home where he is.

You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate.

Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you. You must travel it for yourself.

Become what you are.

No one can construct for you the bridge upon which precisely you must cross the stream of life.

Be a lamp unto yourself, be a refuge to yourself. Take yourself to no external refuge. Hold fast to the Truth as a lamp; hold fast to the Truth as a refuge.

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.

The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.

Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.

The man who is aware of himself is henceforward independent; and he is never bored, and life is only too short, and he is steeped through and through with a profound yet temperate happiness.

Make an island of yourself, make yourself your refuge; there is no other refuge. Make truth your island, make truth your refuge; there is no other refuge.

He who cannot find himself the retreat of his own soul, let him appeal to solitude — if he can even bear himself.

A man contains all that is needful to his government within himself. He is made a law unto himself. All real good or evil that can befal [sic] him must be from himself. He only can do himself any good or any harm. Nothing can be given to him or can taken from him but always there is a compensation.. There is a correspondence between the human soul and everything that exists in the world; more properly, everything that is known to man. Instead of studying things without the principles of them, all may be penetrated unto with him. Every act puts the agent in a new position. The purpose of life seems to be to acquaint a man with himself. He is not to live the future as described to him but to live the real future to the real present. The highest revelation is that God is in every man.

Insist on yourself; never imitate.

Cherish that which is within you, and shut off that which is without; for much knowledge is a curse.

I exist as I am, that is enough.

And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?

As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.