Top 150 Ramakrishna Quotes (2024 Update)
Page 2 of 4

51. “We laugh at the efforts of the musk deer to find the source of the scent which comes from itself and despair at our efforts to find the peace which is our essence.”

— Ramakrishna

52. “The magnetic needle always points to the north, and hence it is that sailing vessel does not lose her direction. So long as the heart of man is directed towards God, he cannot be lost in the ocean of worldliness.”

— Ramakrishna

53. “The way of love is as true as the way of knowledge. All paths ultimately lead to the same Truth. But as long as God keeps the feeling of ego in us, it is easier to follow the path of love.”

— Ramakrishna

54. “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.”

— Ramakrishna

55. “The waves belong to the Ganges, not the Ganges to the waves. A man cannot realize God unless he gets rid of all such egotistic ideas as “I am such an important man” or “I am so and so”. Level the mound of “I” to the ground by dissolving it with tears of devotion.”

— Ramakrishna

56. “The fool who repeats again and again: “I am bound, I am bound,” remains in bondage. He who repeats day and night: “I am a sinner, I am a sinner,” becomes a sinner indeed.”

— Ramakrishna

57. “Great men have the nature of a child.”

— Ramakrishna

58. “The compassion that you see in the kindhearted is God’s compassion. He has given it to them to protect the helpless.”

— Ramakrishna

59. “When the fruit appears the blossom drops off. Love of God is the fruit, and rituals are the blossom.”

— Ramakrishna

60. “Do yourself what you wish others to do.”

— Ramakrishna

61. “The young bamboo can be easily bent, but the full grown bamboo breaks when it is bent with force. It is easy to bend the young heart towards God, but the untrained heart of the old escapes the hold whenever it is so drawn.”

— Ramakrishna

62. “God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole.”

— Ramakrishna

63. “To work without attachment is to work without the expectation of reward or fear of any punishment in this world or the next. Work so done is a means to the end, and God is the end.”

— Ramakrishna

64. “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.”

— Ramakrishna

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

— Ramakrishna

66. “Those who wish to attain God and progress in religious devotion, should particularly guard themselves against the snares of lust and wealth. Otherwise they can never attain perfection.”

— Ramakrishna

67. “You should not feel that your path is the only right path and that other paths are wrong. You mustn’t bear malice toward others.”

— Ramakrishna

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

— Ramakrishna

69. “The vanities of all others may gradually die out, but the vanity of a saint regarding his sainthood is hard indeed to wear away.”

— Ramakrishna

70. “Who is whose Guru? God alone is the guide and Guru of the universe.”

— Ramakrishna

71. “As the shell, the pith and the kernel of the fruit are all produced form one parent seed of the tree, so from the one Lord is produced the whole of creation, animate and inanimate, spiritual and material.”

— Ramakrishna

72. “Meditate upon the Knowledge and Bliss Eternal, and you will also have bliss. The Bliss indeed is eternal, only it is covered and obscured by ignorance. The less your attachment is towards the senses, the more will be your love towards God .”

— Ramakrishna

73. “A man is truly free, even here in this embodied state, if he knows that God is the true agent and he by himself is powerless to do anything.”

— Ramakrishna

74. “Live like a mud-fish: its skin is bright and shiny even though it lives in mud.”

— Ramakrishna

75. “So long as one does not become simple like a child, one does not get divine illumination. Forget all the worldly knowledge that thou hast acquired and become as a child, and then will thou get the divine wisdom.”

— Ramakrishna

76. “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.”

— Ramakrishna

77. “Dislodging a green nut from it’s shell is almost impossible, but let it dry and the lightest tap will do it.”

— Ramakrishna

78. “Many people think they cannot have knowledge or understanding of God without reading books. But hearing is better than reading, and seeing is better than hearing. Hearing about Benares is different from reading about it; but seeing Benares is different from either hearing or reading.”

— Ramakrishna

79. “Sunlight is one and the same wherever it falls; but only a bright surface like that of water, or of a mirror reflects it fully. So is the light Divine. It falls equally and impartially on all hearts, but the pure and pious hearts of holy men receive and reflect that light well.”

— Ramakrishna

80. “Men are like pillow-cases. The colour of one may be red, that of another blue, and that of the third black; but all contain the same cotton within. So it is with man; one is beautiful, another is ugly, a third holy, and a fourth wicked; but the Divine Being dwells in them all.”

— Ramakrishna

81. “If you desire to be pure, have firm faith, and slowly go on with your devotional practices without wasting your energy in useless scriptural discussions and arguments. Your little brain will otherwise be muddled.”

— Ramakrishna

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

— Ramakrishna

83. “All will surely realize God. All will be liberated. It may be that some get their meal in the morning, some at noon, and some in the evening; but none will go without food. All, without any exception, will certainly know their real Self.”

— Ramakrishna

84. “God had created the world in play.”

— Ramakrishna

85. “The world is not impermanent if one lives there after knowing God.”

— Ramakrishna

86. “One cannot completely get rid of the six passions: lust, anger, greed, and the like. Therefore one should direct them to God. If you must have desire and greed, then you should desire love of God and be greedy to attain Him.”

— Ramakrishna

87. “As for myself, I look upon all women as my Mother. This is a very pure attitude of mind. There is no risk or danger in it. To look upon a woman as one’s sister is also not bad. But the other attitudes are very difficult and dangerous. It is almost impossible to keep to the purity of the ideal.”

— Ramakrishna

88. “As for me, I consider myself as a speck of the dust of the devotee’s feet.”

— Ramakrishna

89. “The truth is that you cannot attain God if you have even a trace of desire. Subtle is the way of dharma. If you are trying to thread a needle, you will not succeed if the thread has even a slight fiber sticking out.”

— Ramakrishna

90. “Those whose spiritual awareness has been awakened never make a false move. They don’t have to avoid evil. They are so replete with love that whatever they do is a good action. They are fully conscious that they are not the doer of their actions, but only servants of God.”

— Ramakrishna

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

— Ramakrishna

92. “As a toy fruit or a toy elephant reminds one of the real fruit and the living animal, so do the images that are worshipped remind one of the God who is formless and eternal.”

— Ramakrishna

93. “Respect is heaven, respect is liberation.”

— Ramakrishna

94. “With sincerity and earnestness one can realize God through all religions.”

— Ramakrishna

95. “Honour both spirit and form, the sentiment within as well as the symbol without.”

— Ramakrishna

96. “The ordinary man says in his ignorance, “My religion is the sole religion, my religion is the best.” But when his heart is illuminated by the true knowledge, he knows that beyond all the battles of sects and of sectaries presides the one, indivisible, eternal and omnipresent Benediction.”

— Ramakrishna

97. “One man may read the Bhagavata by the light of a lamp, and another may commit a forgery by that very light; but the lamp is unaffected. The sun sheds its light on the wicked as well as on the virtuous.”

— Ramakrishna

98. “The physicians of one class feel the patients and go away, merely prescribing medicine. As they leave the room they simply ask the patient to take the medicine. They are the poorest class of physicians.”

— Ramakrishna

99. “God cannot be realizxd if there is the slightest trace of pride.”

— Ramakrishna

100. “Do not seek illumination unless you seek it as a man whose hair is on fire seeks a pond.”

— Ramakrishna