Eknath Easwaran Quotes

If I have to be focused and watch what I say, then I have to be comfortable.

I really have to keep an eye on myself, because sometimes I think I might say something important.

Say not always what you know, but always know what you say.

Put a bridle on thy tongue; set a guard before thy lips, lest the words of thine own mouth destroy thy peace... on much speaking cometh repentance, but in silence is safety.

Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful. If the answer is no, maybe what you are about to say should be left unsaid.

I always try to think before I talk.

I found him [Benjamin Franklin] social but not talkative, and when he spoke something useful dropped from his tongue.

I will begin to speak when I have that to say which had not better be unsaid.

Students, when you want to say something, think about it three times before you say it. Speak only if your words will benefit yourselves and others. Do not speak if it brings no benefit.

Speak only the speech that neither torments self nor does harm to others. That speech is truly well spoken.

Silence - Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

If thou thinkest twice before thou speakest once, thou wilt speak twice the better for it.

Before speaking, consult your inner-truth barometer, and resist the temptation to tell people only what they want to hear.

If people thought a quarter of what they speak, this world would be heaven.

Refraining from false speech: speech from the heart. Undertake for one week not to gossip (positively or negatively) or speak about anyone you know who is not present with you (any third party).

If any man think it a small matter, or of mean concernment, to bridle his tongue, he is much mistaken; for it is a point to be silent when occasion requires, and better than to speak, though never so well.

The spiritual life is first of all a life. It is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to be lived.

What we refer to as yoga is just a technology to make your energies function by choice, not by compulsion.

To get at the core of God at his greatest, one must first get to the core of himself at his least, for no one can know God who has not first known himself. This core is a simple stillness, which is unmoved itself but by whose immobility all things are moved and all receive life.

And be silent for the most part, or else make only the most necessary remarks, and express these in few words. But rarely, and when occasion requires you to talk, talk, indeed, but about no ordinary topics. Do not talk about gladiators, or horseraces, or athletes, or things to eat or drink - topics that arise on all occasions; but above all, do not talk about people, either blaming, or praising, or comparing them.

We humans have two great problems: the first is knowing when to begin; the second is knowing when to stop.

Every word out of my mouth is a word that I've approved.

The only freedom which deserves the name is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual. Mankind are greater gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves, than by compelling each to live as seems good to the rest.

Freedom comes when you see the built-in contradiction of trying to manipulate something that is going right to begin with.... Stop trying to steer the river.

As a quick aside, let me observe that in moments of high emotion....if the next thing you're going to say makes you feel better, then it's probably the wrong thing to say. This is one of the finer maxims that I've discovered in life. And you can have it, since it's been of no use to me.