Ramakrishna Quotes

It's only by forgetting yourself that you draw near to God.

As long as you are proud, you cannot know God.

The biggest ego trip is getting rid of your ego, and of course the joke of it all is that your ego does not exist.

One cannot attain divine knowledge till one gets rid of pride. Water does not stay on the top of a mound; but into low land it flows in torrents from all sides.

In the spiritual life the easiest way to conquer ego is to offer gratitude to God for five minutes daily. If you cannot offer gratitude for five minutes, then utter it for one minute. Offer your gratitude to God. Then you will feel that inside you a sweet, fragrant and beautiful flower is growing. That is the flower of humility.

If you cannot bow to Buddha, you cannot be a Buddha. It is arrogance.

Obviously, with my faith, too, I don't want to seem like it's all about me, me, me. It takes away from what I do for Him, for the Lord.

Until we give up the world manufactured by the ego, never can we enter the kingdom of heaven. None ever did, none ever will.

If you think you are big, you will become small. If you are willing to become an absolute nothing, you will become larger than creation and Creator.

Cut out the love of self, like an autumn lotus with thy hand!

God cannot be realizxd if there is the slightest trace of pride.

That's why we cannot love, because with the ego, love is impossible. That's why we go on talking so much about love, but we never are in love. And whatsoever we call love is more or less sex, it is not love; because you cannot lose your ego, and love cannot exist unless the ego has disappeared. Love, meditation, godliness, they all require one thing - the ego must not be there. That's why Jesus is right in saying that God is love, because both phenomena happen only when the ego is not.

Who builds a church to God and not to fame, Will never mark the marble with his name.

Should you ask me what is the first thing in religion, I should reply that the first, second, and third thing therein is humility.

A disciple asked, "Who is a Master?" The Master replied, "Anyone to whom it is given to let go of the ego. Such a person's life is then a masterpiece.

Truth will never come into our minds so long as there will remain the faintest shadow of Ahamkâra (egotism). All of you should try to root out this devil from your heart. Complete self-surrender is the only way to spiritual illumination.

I do not believe that one can earnestly seek and find the priceless treasure of God's call without a devout prayer life. That is where God speaks. The purpose of prayer and of God's call in your life is not to make you number one in the world's eyes, but to make him number one in your life. We must be willing to be outshone while shining for God. We hear very little about being smaller in our own self-estimate.

I work really hard at trying to see the big picture and not getting stuck in ego. I believe we're all put on this planet for a purpose, and we all have a different purpose... When you connect with that love and that compassion, that's when everything unfolds.

My desire is to let go of my ego and let in His direction.

There is greatness in the fear of God, contentment in faith of God, and honour in humility.

If we constantly give God the glory, then we don't have any glory to keep for ourselves.

My faith is an important part of my life and over the years I've learnt that it takes a proud man to say he doesn't need anything. It has been a quiet strength and a backbone through a lot of difficult times.

God comes first - if I don't love him, I can't love anybody, and if I can't love me I can't love nobody.

True strength lies in submission which permits one to dedicate his life, through devotion, to something beyond himself.

I know that some of the spiritual beliefs that I have are that if I come from a place of love, and I try to get out of my ego and my desire to want more and be selfish in any shape or form, then whatever I'm doing is not good.