Look: We hate nothing that exists, not even death, suffering and dying, does not horrify our souls, as long as we learn more deeply to love.

I live in my dreams — that's what you sense. Other people live in dreams, but not in their own. That's the difference.

Youth ends when egotism does; maturity begins when one lives for others.

Love your suffering. Do not resist it, do not flee from it. It is only your aversion to it that hurts, nothing else.

If man has nothing to eat, fasting is the most intelligent thing he can do. If, for instance, Siddhartha had not learned to fast, he would have had to seek some kind of work today, either with you, or elsewhere, for hunger would have driven him. But as it is, Siddhartha can wait calmly. He is not impatient, he is not in need, he can ward off hunger for a long time and laugh at it. Therefore, fasting is useful, sir.

Opinions mean nothing; they may be beautiful or ugly, clever or foolish, anyone can embrace or reject them.

To hold our tongues when everyone is gossiping, to smile without hostility at people and institutions, to compensate for the shortage of love in the world with more love in small, private matters; to be more faithful in our work, to show greater patience, to forgo the cheap revenge obtainable from mockery and criticism: all these are things we can do.