"The supreme purpose and goal for human life... is to cultivate love."
"As long as I live, so long do I learn."
Source: Ramakrishna (1965). “Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna: the most exhaustive collection of them, their number being 1120”
About the author
Ramakrishna
Spiritual Leader
Ramakrishna was a 19th-century Indian mystic known for his teachings on spirituality and the unity of all religions, emphasizing personal experience of the divine.
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More quotes by Ramakrishna
"God laughs on two occasions. He laughs when the physician says to the patient's mother, 'Don't be afraid, mother; I shall certainly cure your boy.' God laughs, saying to Himself, 'I am going to take his life, and this man says he will save it!' The physician thinks he is the master, forgetting that God is the Master. God laughs again when two brothers divide their land with a string, saying to each other, 'This side is mine and that side is yours.' He laughs and says to Himself, 'The whole universe belongs to Me, but they say they own this portion or that portion.'"
"The sun can give heat and light to the whole world, but he cannot do so when the clouds shut out his rays. Similarly as long as egotism veils the heart, God cannot shine upon it."
"All religions are true. God can be reached by different religions. Many rivers flow by many ways but they fall into the sea. They all are one."
"God can be realized through all paths. All religions are true. The important thing is to reach the roof. You can reach it by stone stairs or by wooden stairs or by bamboo steps or by a rope. You can also climb up by a bamboo pole."
"There are three kinds of love; unselfish, mutual, and selfish. The unselfish love is of the highest kind; The lover only minds the welfare of the beloved and does not care for his own sufferings. In mutual love the lover not only wants the happiness of his beloved; but has an eye towards his own happiness also. It is middling. The selfish love is the lowest. It only looks towards its own happiness, no matter whether the beloved suffers weal or woe."