Ramana Maharshi

“Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.”

“The degree of freedom from unwanted thoughts and the degree of concentration on a single thought are the measures to gauge spiritual progress.”

“Be still and know that I am God. Here stillness is total surrender without a vestige of individuality.”

“Nearly all mankind is more or less unhappy because nearly all do not know the true Self.”

“Your duty is to be, and not to be this or that.”

“Silence is also conversation.”

“There is no greater mystery than this — that being the Reality, we seek to gain Reality.”

“The world is illusory; Brahman alone is real; Brahman is the world.”

“If one has form oneself, the world and God will also appear to have forms. But if one is formless, who is to see those forms, and how?”

“The mind is a bundle of thoughts. The thoughts arise because there is the thinker. The thinker is the ego.”

“When the mind comes out from the Self, the world appears.”

“There are no others.”

“The degree of the absence of thoughts is the measure of your progress towards Self-realization.”

“It is false to speak of realization. What is there to realize? The real is as it is, ever.”

“We are happy in deep sleep where there is no mind.”

“There is neither past nor future. There is only the present.”

“Wanting to reform the world without discovering one's true self is like trying to cover the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.”

“What is essential in any sadhana is to try to bring back the running mind and fix it on one thing only.”

“Silence is the true teaching. It is the perfect teaching. It is suited only for the most advanced seeker.”