Echoes

Emotion is the chief source of all becoming-conscious. There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion.

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.

The primary indication, to my thinking, of a well-ordered mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.

Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.

With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things.

There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man's life: "Know thyself," and "Nothing too much;" and upon these all other precepts depend.

You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.

Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Without, everything seems discordant; only within does it coalesce into unity. Who looks outside dreams; who looks inside awakes.

Nowhere you can go is more peaceful — more free of interruptions — than your own soul.

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.

O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

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

He who remembers the evils he has undergone, and those that have threatened him, and the slight causes that have changed him from one state to another, prepares himself in that way for future changes and for recognizing his condition. The life of Caesar has no more to show us than our own; an emperor's or an ordinary man's, it is still a life subject to all human accidents.

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.

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. If we really know how to live, what better way to start the day than with a smile? Our smile affirms our awareness and determination to live in peace and joy. The source of a true smile is an awakened mind.

When another blames you or hates you, or people voice similar criticisms, go to their souls, penetrate inside and see what sort of people they are. You will realize that there is no need to be racked with anxiety that they should hold any particular opinion about you.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.

Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else in the world.

Only if we understand can we care. Only if we care will we help. Only if we help shall they be saved.

Not to display anger or other emotions. To be free of passion and yet full of love.

I am more and more convinced that our happiness or unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life than on the nature of those events themselves.

To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.