Change is never painful, only the resistance to change is painful

To love those that love you is easy. To love those that love you not is not so simple. If you want to change anyone, set a better example. Show more kindness, more understanding, more love. That has a sure effect. To those who are not kind, show kindness. To those who are mean, show bigness of heart.

Only the people who have gone beyond the world can change the world.

The human mind moves always forward, alters its viewpoint and enlarges its thought substance, and the effect of these changes is to render past systems of thinking obsolete or, when they are preserved, to extend, to modify and subtly or visibly to alter their value.

It is most unusual to return to a place that has changed in ways you yourself have altered.

Be the change that you want to see.

To change a habit, make a conscious decision, then act out the new behavior.

Self-observation brings man to the realization of the necessity of self-change. And in observing himself a man notices that self-observation itself brings about certain changes in his inner processes. He begins to understand that self-observation is an instrument of self-change, a means of awakening.

To change the world is not your mission. To change yourself is not your duty. To awaken to your true nature is your opportunity.

With the egoic consciousness having become so dysfunctional, and now having at our disposal all these enormous technologies and scientific advances, if nothing changes the ego will use those things - as it already has been doing - and will amplify the technology that we now have. The scientific advances, to a large extent, will be used in the service of the ego, and they will become more and more destructive.

...once again we face a paradox, for it appears that softening your heart and gently tending its wounds will protect you from evil. Building a fortress and defending yourself behind it will only make you more vulnerable. Healing your own heart is the single most powerful thing you can do to change the world. Your own transformation will enable you to withdraw so completely from evil that you contribute to it by not one word, one thought, or one breath. This healing process is like recovering your soul.

In Sufi terms the crushing of the ego is called Nafs Kushi. And how do we crush it? We crush it by sometimes taking ourselves to task. When the self says, 'O no, I must not be treated like this,' then we say, 'What does it matter?' When the self says, 'He ought to have done this, she ought to have said that,' we say, 'What does it matter, either this way or that way? Every person is what he is; you cannot change him, but you can change yourself.' That is the crushing. ... It is only in this way that we can crush our ego.

Do not vainly lament, but do wonder at the rule of transiency and learn from it the emptiness of human life. Do not cherish unworthy desire that the changeable might become unchanging.

The great sadhus don’t have a human body. They are omnipresent. If a saint changes form, he doesn’t necessarily have to take on a human body. The soul is the small form and the human body is the huge form.

The anitya doctrine is, again, not quite the simple assertion that the world is impermanent, but rather that the more one grasps at the world, the more it changes.

When we think of failure; failure will be ours. If we remain undecided nothing will ever change. All we need to do is want to achieve something great and then simply to do it. Never think of failure, for what we think, will come about.

We live in a body that is like a house we can live in during one life. Some love the body and become attached to it. Some consider the body everything, and some even think “I am the body.” Some people may not like or love their body. Undoubtedly, we may wonder why so many people dislike their bodies since they chose them. Their suffering is the result of their own ignorance. Indeed, all suffering is due to ignorance. “I do not like this body; I want to change it. I do not look nice; I am ugly.”

The quality of one's life depends on the quality of attention. Whatever you pay attention to will grow more important in your life. There is no limit to the kinds of changes that awareness can produce.

Change in society is of secondary importance; that will come about naturally, inevitably, when you as a human being bring about the change in yourself.

In true dialogue, both sides are willing to change.

Since you alone are responsible for your thoughts, only you can change them. You will want to change them when you realize that each thought creates according to its own nature. Remember that the law works at all times and that you are always demonstrating according to the kind of thoughts you habitually entertain. Therefore, start now to think only those thoughts that will bring you health and happiness.

When you complain, you make yourself a victim. Leave the situation, change the situation or accept it, all else is madness.

When individuals change, society will change. And when society changes, the whole world will change. The welfare of the individual is bound up with the welfare of society as a whole.