"Speaking little is a sign of wisdom; eating little is a guarantee of good health. Saying everything that comes to mind is characteristic of an ignoramus who has lost his reason. The characteristic of cattle is to fill their stomachs with whatever they come across." Alisher Navoi
“This Atman cannot be realized through the power of the mind, through teachings, or through diligent study of the scriptures. He is realized only by the one whom He Himself chooses” (Katha Upanishad
"I am not the mind, not the intellect, not the ego, not a thought... I am pure Consciousness and Bliss, I am Shiva, I am Shiva (the supreme Atman)."
Shankara, "Atma-Shatakam"
"The mind turned inward is the Atman, while turned outward, it becomes the ego and this entire world."
Ramana Maharshi
"Your mind is everything. You become what you think."
Siddhartha
"To tame the mind—unrestrained, changeable, and striving wherever it pleases—is beneficial. A tamed mind leads to happiness."
Buddha
"Emotions generated by the mind can change just as quickly and in as many different ways as the pattern of clouds in the sky changes when the wind blows. Understanding the nature of emotions, we see how little need there is to consider them so very important. There is absolutely no need to assume that our emotional states are worth giving in to and losing our peace of mind over. There is no need for this at all!"
Kalu Rinpoche
"Closest to nature is the woman who gives birth. In one respect, she is nature itself, and in another, the human being himself." — M. Prishvin
"I love nature, the power of the human spirit, and a true human dream with all my heart. And it is never loud... Never!" — K. Paustovsky
"To have enough inner substance not to need society is in itself a great happiness, because almost all our suffering stems from society, and peace of mind—which, after health, is the most essential element of our happiness—is endangered in every society; therefore, a certain measure of solitude is indispensable."
Arthur Schopenhauer
"Loneliness is caused not by the absence of people around you, but by being unable to talk to people about what seems important to you, or by others finding your views unacceptable." Carl Gustav Jung
"There is beauty, magnificence, and positivity in solitude. In the feeling that you are lonely, there is poverty, negativity, and gloom." Osho
“Brahman is indivisible Truth. He existed before creation, exists in the form of creation, and He alone continues to exist after the destruction of the material universes” (Chandogya Upanishad, 6.2.1)
"Knowledge is the only thing that cannot be taken away." Truth is often hidden in the information and books that people try to destroy, but its indivisible essence remains unchanged."
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
"If only we trusted not in words,
But in the truth known by the heart,
And in the heart ignited by truth,
There would be no limit to miracles."
Jalaluddin Rumi
"God does not perform miracles to amaze atheists. His ordinary creations are quite convincing." Albert Einstein
"You have to run as fast as you can just to stay in place, and to get somewhere, you have to run at least twice as fast." Lewis Carroll, "Alice in Wonderland."
“Just as oil is hidden in sesame seeds, as water in a dried-up riverbed, and as fire in two pieces of wood—so the Atman is realized within oneself by one who seeks It through truth and self-control” (“Shvetashvatara Upanishad,”
"Intuition is something that precedes precise knowledge. Our brains undoubtedly possess highly sensitive nerve cells, which allow us to sense the truth even when it is not yet accessible to logical deductions or other mental efforts." — Nikola Tesla
“For the one self-existent Being, truly present in every creature, appearing as one or as many, is seen like the moon reflected in water” (“Amritabindu Upanishad”).
“Know that the body is the chariot, and the Atman is the master of the chariot. Know that the intellect is the charioteer, and the mind is the reins. The horses harnessed to this chariot are our senses, and the path along which they run is the objects of the senses.”
The Katha Upanishad
"Sometimes we rely on what people say about themselves, and even more often on what other people say about them, without giving ourselves time to think."
Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility
"Laws and customs are for those moments when reason is not outraged, when there is no storm in the soul; they are harsh toward madness and cruel toward intoxication."
Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
"Nonviolence is the weapon of the strong. In the weak, it can easily become hypocrisy. Fear and love are contradictory concepts. Love gives recklessly, without thinking about what it receives in return. Love fights the whole world as it fights itself, and ultimately triumphs over all other feelings." — Mahatma Gandhi
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness — only love can do that. Hate cannot destroy hate — only love can do that."
"Nonviolence means not only refraining from external violence toward others, but also refraining from internal violence against your own spirit. You refuse to hate the person who has wronged you."
Martin Luther King Jr.
"You are beautiful, but empty," he continued. "No one would want to die for you. Of course, an ordinary passerby, looking at my rose, would say that it is exactly like you. But to me, it is more precious than all of you. After all, it was my rose, not you, that I watered every day. It was my rose, not you, that I covered with a glass globe. It was my rose that I sheltered behind a screen, protecting it from the wind. For its sake, I killed the caterpillars, leaving only two or three so that they could turn into butterflies. I listened to it when it complained and when it boasted; I listened to it even when it fell silent. It is mine." Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“The highest path begins when the five senses and the mind are calm, and when the intellect is silent. This tranquility of the senses is yoga itself.”
Upanishads