Quotes by Paramahansa Yogananda

Success is not rightly measured by the worldly standards of wealth, prestige and power.  None of these bestow happiness unless they are rightly used.  To use them rightly one must possess wisdom and love for God and man.

Success should be measured by the yardstick of happiness;  by your ability to remain in peaceful harmony with cosmic laws.

The things you need in life are those that will help you to fulfill your dominant purpose.  Things you may want but not need may lead you aside from that purpose.  It is only by making everything serve your main objective that success is attained.

Wise guidance never violates people's Free Will. A superior who demands obedience of his subordinates should show respect for their capacity to understand, and also for their Innate Right to their own Free Will.

The happiness of one's own heart alone cannot satisfy the soul; one must try to include, as necessary to one's own happiness, the happiness of others.

Those who are socially inclined will find a new power to help humanity through the lessons of books written by noble and gifted people.

From the depths of slumber,
As I ascend the spiral stairway of wakefulness,
I whisper:
God! God! God!
Thou art the food, and when I break my fast
Of nightly separation from Thee,
I taste Thee, and mentally say:
God! God! God!
No matter where I go, the spotlight of my mind
Ever keeps turning on Thee,
And in the battle din of activity my silent war-cry is ever:
God! God! God!
When boisterous storms of trials shriek
And worries howl at me,
I drown their noises, loudly chanting:
God! God! God!
When my mind weaves dreams
With threads of memories,
On that magic cloth I do emboss:
God! God! God!
Every night, in time of deepest sleep,
My peace dreams and calls: Joy! Joy! Joy!
And my joy comes singing evermore:
God! God! God!
In waking, eating, working, dreaming, sleeping,
Serving, meditating, chanting, divinely loving,
My soul constantly hums, unheard by any:
God! God! God!

Build your inner environment. Practice Silence! I remember the
wonderful discipline of the Great Ones. When we used to talk and
chatter, they would say: "Go back into your inner castle." It was
very hard to comprehend then, but now I understand the way of peace

the sincere devotee loves God deeply whether he is nonactive and silently meditating on God, or in the midst of a whirl of outer activities.  He is awake in God during all hours and in all walks of life.  He does not become so deeply engrossed in material duties as to be oblivious to the inner state of divine bliss.

As God is omnipresent in the cosmos but is undisturbed by its variety, so man, who as a soul is individualized Spirit, must learn to participate in this cosmic drama with a perfectly poised and equilibrated mind.