Quotes from Autobiography of a Yogi

“Live quietly in the moment and see the beauty of all before you. The future will take care of itself......”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“You may control a mad elephant;
You may shut the mouth of the bear and the tiger;
Ride the lion and play with the cobra;
By alchemy you may learn your livelihood;
You may wander through the universe incognito;
Make vassals of the gods; be ever youthful;
You may walk in water and live in fire;
But control of the mind is better and more difficult.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“You have come to earth to entertain and to be entertained.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“The power of unfulfilled desires is the root of all man's slavery”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“You do not have to struggle to reach God, but you do have to struggle to tear away the self-created veil that hides him from you”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“Stillness is the altar of spirit.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“The body is literally manufactured and sustained by mind.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“The deeper the Self-realization of a man, the more he influences the whole universe by his subtle spiritual vibrations, and the less he himself is affected by the phenomenal flux.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“God is simple. Everything else is complex. Do not seek absolute values in the relative world of nature.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“Continual intellectual study results in vanity and the false satisfaction of an undigested knowledge.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“Seeds of past karma cannot germinate if they are roasted in the fires of divine wisdom.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“Yoga is, as I can readily believe, the perfect and appropriate method of fusing body and mind together so that they form a unity which is scarcely to be questioned. This unity creates a psychological disposition which makes possible intuitions that transcend consciousness.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“Why be elated by material profit?” Father replied. “The one who pursues a goal of evenmindedness is neither jubilant with gain nor depressed by loss. He knows that man arrives penniless in this world, and departs without a single rupee.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“The human mind is a spark of the almighty consciousness of God. I could show you that whatever your powerful mind believes very intensely would instantly come to pass.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“Man's conscious state is an awareness of body and breath. His subconscious state, active in sleep, is associated with his mental, and temporary, separation from body and breath. His superconscious state is a freedom from the delusion that "existence" depends on body and breath. God lives without breath; the soul made in his image becomes conscious of itself, for the first time, only during the breathless state.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“Attachment is blinding; it lends an imaginary halo of attractiveness to the object of desire.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“TO EVERY THING there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“The reflection, the verisimilitude, of life that shines in the fleshly cells from the soul source is the only cause of man's attachment to his body; obviously he would not pay solicitous homage to a clod of clay. A human being falsely identifies himself with his physical form because the life currents from the soul are breath-conveyed into the flesh with such intense power that man mistakes the effect for a cause, and idolatrously imagines the body to have life of its own.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“The power of unfulfilled desires is the root of all man’s slavery.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“He fitted the Vedic definition of a man of God: “Softer than the flower, where kindness is concerned; stronger than the thunder, where principles are at stake.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“If you don’t invite God to be your summer Guest, He won’t come in the winter of your life.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“You go often into the silence, but have you developed anubhava?” He was reminding me to love God more than meditation. “Do not mistake the technique for the Goal.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“Moral: Look fear in the face and it will cease to trouble you.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“Hay personas que tratan de ser altas cortando la cabeza a los demàs
Sri Yukteswar”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“The ancient rishis discovered these laws of sound alliance between nature and man. Because nature is an objectification of Aum, the Primal Sound or Vibratory Word, man can obtain control over all natural manifestations through the use of certain mantras or chants.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“The master never counseled slavish belief. ‘Words are only shells,’ he said. ‘Win conviction of God’s presence through your own joyous contact in meditation.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“A man will be beloved if, possessed with great power, he still does not make himself feared.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“The soul having been often born, or, as the Hindus say, ‘traveling the path of existence through thousands of births’ ... there is nothing of which she has not gained the knowledge; no wonder that she is able to recollect... what formerly she knew.... For inquiry and learning is reminiscence all.”-Emerson.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

“The poet is intimate with truth, while the scientist approaches awkwardly.”
― Paramahansa Yogananda, quote from Autobiography of a Yogi

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BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.