Ramakrishna Quotes

The supreme purpose and goal for human life... is to cultivate love.

As long as I live, so long do I learn.

The sun can give heat and light to the whole world, but he cannot do so when the clouds shut out his rays. Similarly as long as egotism veils the heart, God cannot shine upon it.

All religions are true. God can be reached by different religions. Many rivers flow by many ways but they fall into the sea. They all are one.

It is true that God is even in the tiger, but we must not go and face the animal. So it is true that God dwells even in the most wicked, but it is not meet that we should associate with the wicked.

The winds of grace are always blowing, but you have to raise the sail.

God is in all men, but all men are not in God; that is why we suffer.

All troubles come to an end when the ego dies

A boat may stay in water, but water should not stay in boat. A spiritual aspirant may live in the world, but the world should not live within him.

Wisdom leads to unity, but ignorance to separation. So long as God seems to be outside and far away, there is ignorance. But when God is realised within, that is true knowledge.

One cannot be spiritual as long as one has shame, hatred, or fear.

An ocean of bliss may rain down from the heavens, but if you hold up only a thimble, that is all you receive

Why does God allow evil in the world? To thicken the plot.

To work without attachment is to work without the expectation of reward.

Pray to God that your attachment to such transitory things as wealth, name, and creature comforts may become less and less every day.

Bondage is of the mind; freedom too is of the mind. If you say 'I am a free soul. I am a son of God who can bind me' free you shall be.

If you must be mad, be it not for the things of the world. Be mad with the love of God.

Do not be small minded. Do not pray for gourds and pumpkins from God, when you should be asking for pure love and pure knowledge to dawn within every heart.

If you meditate on your ideal, you will acquire its nature. If you think of God day and night, you will acquire the nature of God.

The Man who works for others, without any selfish motive, really does good to himself.

Disease is the tax which the soul pays for the body, as the tenant pays house-rent for the use of the house.

Sugar and sand may be mixed together, but the ant rejects the sand and goes off with the sugar grain; so pious men lift the good from the bad.

Great men have the nature of a child.

The winds of God's grace are always blowing, it is for us to raise our sails.

Pray to Him anyway you like, He can even hear the footfall of an ant.

Unless one always speaks the truth, one cannot find God Who is the soul of truth.

The breeze of grace is always blowing on you. You have to open the sails and your boat will move forward.

Do yourself what you wish others to do.

Longing is like the rosy dawn. After the dawn out comes the sun. Longing is followed by the vision of God.

The world is impermanent. One should constantly remember death.

The tree laden with fruits always bends low. If you wish to be great, be lowly and meek.

God is everywhere but He is most manifest in man. So serve man as God. That is as good as worshipping God.

You should love everyone because God dwells in all beings.

Through selfless work, love of God grows in heart.

Have love for everyone, no one is other than you.

Common men talk bagfuls of religion but do not practise even a grain of it. The wise man speaks a little, even though his whole life is religion expressed in action.

Many good sayings are to be found in holy books, but merely reading them will not make one religious.

One must be very particular about telling the truth. Through truth one can realize God.

The breeze of grace is always blowing; set your sail to catch that breeze.

Once a person has faith, he has achieved everything.

Make your meditation a continuous state of mind. A great worship is going on all the time, so nothing should be neglected or excluded from your constant meditative awareness.

When the divine vision is attained, all appear equal; and there remains no distinction of good and bad, or of high and low.

If you spent one-tenth of the time you devoted to distractions like chasing women or making money to spiritual practice, you would be enlightened in a few years.

Through selfless work, love of God grows in the heart. Then through his grace one realize him in course of time. God can be seen. One can talk to him as I am talking to you.

When one has love for God, one doesn't feel any physical attraction to wife, children, relatives and friends. One retains only compassion for them.

Travel in all the four quarters of the earth, you will find nothing (no true religion) anywhere. Whatever there is, is only here (i .e . in one 's own heart.)

One day, it was suddenly revealed to me that everything is pure spirit.

Man suffers through lack of faith in God.

If there are errors in other religions, that is none of our business. God, to whom the world belongs, takes care of that.

Try to cultivate love of God. You are born as a human being only to attain divine love.