Jiddu Krishnamurti was an Indian philosopher, speaker and writer. In his early life he was groomed to be the new World Teacher but later rejected this mantle and withdrew from the Theosophy organization behind it. His interests included psychological revolution, the nature of mind, meditation, inquiry, human relationships, and bringing about radical change in society. He stressed the need for a revolution in the psyche of every human being. In his talks, he pointed out to people the need to transform themselves through self-knowledge, by being aware of the subtleties of their thoughts and feelings in daily life, and how this movement can be observed through the mirror of relationship. His talks and dialogues have been compiled and published in more than sixty books and translated into as many different languages. His books include The Ending of Time, Freedom from the Known, Commentaries on Living, Education and the Significance of Life, The Awakening of Intelligence, and The First and Last Freedom. May his quotes inspire you to take action so that you may live your dreams.
1. “The more you know yourself, the more clarity there is. Self-knowledge has no end – you don’t come to an achievement, you don’t come to a conclusion. It is an endless river.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
2. “One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
3. “So, while you are young you must begin to find out what is this strange thing called happiness. That is an essential part of education.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
4. “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
5. “To have intelligence there must be freedom, and you cannot be free if you are constantly being urged to become like some hero, for then the hero is important and not you.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
6. “When you are young you are curious to know all about everything, why the sun shines, what the stars are, all about the moon and the world around us; but as we grow older, knowledge becomes a mere collection of information without any feeling.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
7. “If, living in the world, you refuse to be a part of it, you will help others out of this chaos – not in the future, not tomorrow, but now.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
8. “To understand ourselves needs no authority either of yesterday or of a thousand years because we are living things, always moving, flowing, never resting.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
9. “One of the fundamental causes of the disintegration of society is copying, which is the worship of authority.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
10. “When the mother and father love their children, they do not compare them, they do not compare their child with another child; it is their child and they love their child. But you want to compare yourself with something better, with something nobler, with something richer, so you create in yourself a lack of love.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
11. “You have to question everything that man has accepted as valuable, as necessary.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
12. “Freedom and love go together. Love is not a reaction. If I love you because you love me, that is mere trade, a thing to be bought in the market; it is not love. To love is not to ask anything in return, not even to feel that you are giving something – and it is only such love that can know freedom.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
13. “The ending is the beginning, and the beginning is the first step, and the first step is the only step.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
14. “The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judgement.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
15. “It is a great art to have an abundance of knowledge and experience – to know the richness of life, the beauty of existence, the struggles, the miseries, the laughter, the tears – and yet keep your mind very simple; and you can have a simple mind only when you know how to love.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
16. “But if you have no relationship with the living things on this earth, you may lose whatever relationship you have with humanity.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
17. “To understand yourself is the beginning of wisdom.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
18. “Order cannot possibly be brought about through conformity to a pattern, under any circumstances.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
19. “So when you are listening to somebody, completely, attentively, then you are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
20. “Real learning comes about when the competitive spirit has ceased.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
21. “You can only be afraid of what you think you know.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
22. “If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
23. “Happiness is strange; it comes when you are not seeking it. When you are not making an effort to be happy, then unexpectedly, mysteriously, happiness is there, born of purity, of a loveliness of being.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
24. “You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
25. “It is only when the mind is free from the old that it meets everything anew, and in that there is joy.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
26. “When you once see something as false which you have accepted as true, as natural, as human, then you can never go back to it.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
27. “From innumerable complexities we must grow to simplicity; we must become simple in our inward life and in our outward needs.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
28. “Thought is so cunning, so clever, that it distorts everything for its own convenience.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
29. “The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
30. “This is my secret. I don’t mind what happens.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
31. “Teaching is not the mere imparting of knowledge but the cultivation of an inquiring mind.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
32. “What you are the world is. And without your transformation, there can be no transformation of the world.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
33. “When I understand myself, I understand you, and out of that understanding comes love.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
34. “It is truth that liberates, not your effort to be free.” Jiddu Krishnamurti
35. “When the individual is in conflict within himself he must inevitably create conflict without, and only he can bring about peace within himself and so in the world, for he is the world..” Jiddu Krishnamurti
