If you are afflicted with a chronic case of indifference, make up your mind at once to “snap out of it.” Be merry—think of something amusing until you find yourself bubbling over with laughter. Exercise self-control: learn to substitute, at will, joy for sorrow, love for hate, courage for fear, openmindedness for prejudice.
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Do not expect to be successful in all your attempts the first time. Some ventures may fail, but others will be successful. With concentrated energy you must approach your nearest duty and do your utmost to accomplish whatever is needed.
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Wake up! It is never too late to analyze what you are and what your deep-secret tasks are, so that you can make yourself what you should be. You have talents and power that you have not used. You have all the power you need. There is nothing greater than the power of mind. Resurrect your mind from the little habits that keep you worldly. Smile that perpetual smile—the Smile of God. Smile that strong smile of balanced recklessness, that billion-dollar smile that no one can take from you.
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The yogi always tries to keep his meditation-born peace enthroned in his mind, in every activity and in all dealings with others. If you are a god of peace after meditation, and suddenly change into a devil of disharmony at the drop of a hat, then your meditations are of little use. Meditation reminds you of your forgotten peace-nature, and with it you subdue your mortally acquired mental disquietude.
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The minutes are more important than the years. If you fill the minutes of your life with thoughts of God, you will find the years of your life automatically saturated with the consciousness of God. Never think of tomorrow. Take care of today and all the tomorrows will be taken care of. Do not wait until tomorrow to meditate. Do not wait until tomorrow to be good. Be good now. Be calm now. It will be the turning point of your life.
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There are some people the song of whose laughter nothing can still. Seek them out and feast with them on this most vitalizing food of joy.
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World-weariness—the metaphysician’s dour alternative to emotional excitement—is inadequate as a cure for life’s sufferings, for it fosters an attitude of indifference, the progenitor of spiritual laziness.
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It requires only shallow wisdom to be disillusioned with life. World-weary metaphysicians pride themselves on their “aloofness from it all,” and turn up their noses at a 180-degree angle at the mere mention of anything beautiful. Granted, life is riddled with inconsistencies. Earthly fulfillments are, in fact, short lasting. Recognition of these realities is not, in itself, any proof of profundity. Nothing of value is ever attained by negativity alone.
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Be neither elated nor depressed at anything outside yourself. Behold the passing spectacle of life with an even mind. For life’s ups and downs are but waves on an ocean, constantly in flux. Shun emotional involvement with them, while remaining ever calm, ever happy at your inner center in the spine.
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Simplicity is not grinding poverty: It is not the polar opposite of wealth. To live simply is to pursue a quiet path of moderation. In a life of balance between opposite extremes lies inner happiness.
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Be calmly active, and actively calm. That is the way of the yogi.
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We are usually born rich with smiles, youth, strength, beauty, health, mystic aspirations, and swelling hopes. As we live and grow, we begin to lose these riches, and the roses in us begin to fade. Why is this? The rose blooms only to die. Does our happiness come only in order to vanish?
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We want to bloom with good actions, fragrant with happiness, and to rest forever with the memories of those who appreciate us. We do not have to die devoured by poverty, sickness, or sorrow.
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To guard our rose plant, we must attend to it properly with much watering, feeding, and guarding it from pests and chill. The rose plant of our happiness can grow only on the fertile soil of our peace. It can never grow on hard, unfeeling soil of human mentality.
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Think for a moment what Jesus meant when he said, “Let the dead bury their dead.” (Matthew 8:22) His meaning was that most people are dead but don’t know it! They have no ambition, no initiative, no spiritual enthusiasm, no joy in life.
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What is the use of living that way? Life should be a constant inspiration. To live mechanically is to be dead inside though your body be still breathing!
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A diamond retains its strength and clarity no matter how many waves crash down upon it. The man of inner peace, similarly, his consciousness made crystalline by inner calmness, retains his equanimity through even the storms of mighty trials.
The source of these quotes are Paramhansa Yogananda’s books: How To Be A Success, How to Be Happy All the Time, How to Awaken Your True Potential.
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