Quotes from Paramahansa Yogananda

We are what we think we are. The habitual inclination of our thoughts determines our talents and abilities, and our personality. So whatever you want to be, start to develop that pattern now.

As a mortal being you are limited, but as a child of God you are unlimited... Focus your attention on God, and you shall have all the power you want, to use in any direction.

Affirm divine calmness and peace, and send out only thoughts of love and goodwill if you want to live in peace and harmony. Never get angry, for anger poisons your system.

My keen love of travel was seldom hindered by Father. He permitted me, even as a mere boy, to visit many cities and pilgrimage spots.

The ideal of an all-sided education for youth had always been close to my heart. I saw clearly the arid results of ordinary instruction, aimed only at the development of body and intellect.

When you learn to live for others, they will live for you.

Introspection, or 'sitting in the silence,' is an unscientific way of trying to force apart the mind and senses, tied together by the life force. The contemplative mind, attempting its return to divinity, is constantly dragged back toward the senses by the life currents.

Man is important in one sense only. He was made in the image of God: That is his importance. He is not important for his body, ego, or personality. His constant affirmation of ego-consciousness is the source of all his problems.

The man who has perceived God looks upon all types of men as dream motion-picture images, made of the relativities of the light of Cosmic Consciousness and the shadows of delusion.

No one appears on our stage unless the director has placed them there for our benefit

I relax and cast aside all mental burdens, allowing God to express through me His perfect love, peace, and wisdom.

Fearlessness means faith in God: faith in his protection, His justice, His wisdom, His mercy, His love, and His Omnipresence... To be fit for Self-realization man must be fearless.

Your part is to awaken your desire to accomplish your worthy objectives. Then whip your will into action until it follows the way of wisdom that is shown to you.

Seclusion is the price of greatness.

Everything, at first, is an idea, a special creation.

When your mind is fully withdrawn in superconsciousness, it becomes centered in the bliss of the spine. You are then in your ideational, or causal, body. That is the level of the soul.

Absolute, unquestioning faith in God is the greatest method of instantaneous healing. An unceasing effort to arouse that faith is man's highest and most rewarding duty.

Intuition is soul guidance, appearing naturally in man during those instants when his mind is calm.

Through Self-realization man becomes aware of true values as to his place in the divine plan and his relation to the past, present, and future of mankind.

Ignoring all prejudices of caste, creed, class, color, sex, or race, a swami follows the precepts of human brotherhood. His goal is absolute unity with Spirit.

To work with God's happiness bubbling in the soul is to carry a portable paradise within you wherever you go.

Work for god, love god alone, and be wise with god. When an ordinary man puts the necessary rime and enthusiasm into meditation and prayer, he becomes a divine man.

As often as you fail, get up and try again. God will never let you down, so long as you don't let Him down, and so long as you make the effort.

God is simple. Everything else is complex. Do not seek absolute values in the relative world of nature.