Quotes from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Nisargadatta Maharaj ·  550 pages

Rating: (3.7K votes)


“Love says 'I am everything.' Wisdom says 'I am nothing.' Between the two, my life flows.”
― Nisargadatta Maharaj, quote from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj


“Your expectation of something unique and dramatic, of some wonderful explosion, is merely hindering and delaying your Self Realization. You are not to expect an explosion, for the explosion has already happened - at the moment when you were born, when you realized yourself as Being-Knowing-Feeling. There is only one mistake you are making: you take the inner for the outer and the outer for the inner. What is in you, you take to be outside you and what is outside, you take to be in you. The mind and feelings are external, but you take them to be intimate. You believe the world to be objective, while it is entirely a projection of your psyche. That is the basic confusion and no new explosion will set it right! You have to think yourself out of it. There is no other way.”
― Nisargadatta Maharaj, quote from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj


“Love is not selective, desire is selective. In love there are no strangers. When the centre of selfishness is no longer, all desires for pleasure and fear of pain cease; one is no longer interested in being happy; beyond happiness there is pure intensity, inexhaustible energy, the ecstasy of giving from a perennial source.”
― Nisargadatta Maharaj, quote from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj


“To deal with things knowledge of things is needed. To deal with
people, you need insight, sympathy. To deal with yourself, you need
nothing. Be what you are--conscious being--and don't stray away from
yourself.”
― Nisargadatta Maharaj, quote from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj


“Truth is not a reward for good behaviour, nor a prize for passing some tests. It cannot be brought about. It is the primary, the unborn, the ancient source of all that is. You are eligible because you are. You need not merit truth. It is your own....Stand still, be quiet.”
― Nisargadatta Maharaj, quote from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj



“Love tells me, i am everything.
Wisdom tells me, i am nothing.
And in between flows my life.”
― Nisargadatta Maharaj, quote from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj


“Have your being outside this body of birth and death and all your problems will be solved. They exist because you believe yourself born to die. Undeceive yourself and be free. You are not a person.”
― Nisargadatta Maharaj, quote from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj


“All you need is already within you, only you must approach your self with reverence and love. Self-condemnation and self-disgust are grievous errors. Your constant flight from pain and search for pleasure is a sign of love you bear for your self, all I plead with you is this: make love of your self perfect. Deny your self nothing--give yourself infinity and eternity and discover that you do not need them; you are beyond.”
― Nisargadatta Maharaj, quote from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj


“Save all your energies and time for breaking the wall your mind has built around you.”
― Nisargadatta Maharaj, quote from I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj


About the author

Nisargadatta Maharaj
Born place: in Bombay, India
Born date April 17, 1897
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“Our love has evolved into something else because of the way we respect and listen to each other's needs.”
― Tiffany King, quote from Meant to Be


“The positive testimony of history is that the State invariably had its origin in conquest and confiscation. No primitive State known to history originated in any other manner.”
― Albert Jay Nock, quote from Our Enemy the State


“He sighed again, but I couldn't see the fate of his dolphin logo person. I was completely fixated on his eyes. They're a pretty amazing combination of green and bronze. "I don't know what's going on, but it's weird, and it shouldn't be. I'm a decent guy."
"Of course you are." I sighed. And caved. Apparently, my Phillite defenses were worthless around this particular specimen, no matter that he couldn't seem to make up his mind whether I was worth noticing or not.
Truth: Yes,I am that naive.
"Good.So.Friday after school. We can meet down here."
I could just see Amanda's face when she caught us on our way into the dark depths of the school. "No."
"Fine.Your house."
"God,no!"
"Do you make everything this complicated?" he asked. "No. Don't answer that. Would you come to my house?"
That sounded doable.If we were at his place, I could leave whenever I wanted. "okay."
As I watched, he did a slo-mo, surprisingly graceful flop onto the floor. "Finally!"
I stepped over him and headed for the stairs.”
― Melissa Jensen, quote from The Fine Art of Truth or Dare


“When hands of hate turn dark and tragic, Virtue makes for more than magic. Ever since the world was new, They rise, always, a worthy few. When tyrants fill the land with death, And innocents draw in final breath, Warriors noble step from shadow, With powers hidden, end the battle, Committed to win, to do what they must, Defending good hope against the unjust: In spite of danger, doom, and doubt, Before these few, darkness burns out. This timeless history is beget To show how light with darkness met: Their legacy may not be seen, But we recall wits and weapons keen That warriors sharpen and apply, By courage and talent live and die. And so hope we have, in darkest night: The good find a way, and a means, and light.”
― Kyle Timmermeyer, quote from Reintroduction


“I want to want to try to never waste energy degrading someone else. Also, I want to try not to see life as a competition.”
― Ethan Hawke, quote from The Hottest State


Interesting books

Laughter in the Dark
(10K)
Laughter in the Dark
by Vladimir Nabokov
Guardian of the Gate
(5K)
Guardian of the Gate
by Michelle Zink
The Oracle of Stamboul
(2.8K)
The Oracle of Stambo...
by Michael David Lukas
The Fisherman's Lady
(1.2K)
The Fisherman's Lady
by George MacDonald
Shakespeare's Secret
(7.7K)
Shakespeare's Secret
by Elise Broach
The Vicar of Wakefield
(7.9K)
The Vicar of Wakefie...
by Oliver Goldsmith

About BookQuoters

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.