Sri Aurobindo Quotes

He that would be superior to external influences must first become superior to his own passions.

They who overcome their desires once can overcome them always.

Control thy passions lest they take vengence on thee.

Virtue does not consist in the absence of the passions, but in the control of them.

Some men, who begin by saying that the world is a hell, often end by saying that it is a heaven when they succeed in the practice of self-control.

Even those who have the weakest souls could acquire absolute mastery over all their passions if we employed sufficient ingenuity in training and guiding them.

Whoever wishes to make progress in perfection should use particular diligence in not allowing himself to be led away by his passions, which destroy with one hand the spiritual edifice which is rising by the labors of the other. But to succeed well in this, resistance should be begun while the passions are yet weak; for after they are thoroughly rooted and grown up, there is scarcely any remedy.

The undisciplined are slaves to moods, appetites and passions

The principal use of prudence, of self-control, is that it teaches us to be masters of our passions, and to so control and guide them that the evils which they cause are quite bearable, and that we even derive joy from them all.

Nothing is easier for passion than to overcome reason, but the greatest triumph is to conquer a man's own interests.

My fault, my failure, is not in the passions I have, but in my lack of control of them.

Anyone who seeks to destroy the passions instead of controlling them is trying to play the angel.

The point is to change one's life. The point is not to give some vent to the emotions that have been destroying one; the point is so to act that one can master them now.

Strength instead of being the lusty child of passion, grows by grappling with and subduing them.

Subdue your passion or it will subdue you.

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.

In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves... self-discipline with all of them came first.

He who reigns within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.

A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them.

Temperance is simply a disposition of the mind which binds the passion.

His own self must be conquered by the king for all time; then only are his enemies to be conquered.

Heaven has given to every human being the power of controlling his passions, and if he neglects or loses it, the fault is his own, and he must be answerable for it.

All day long and all night through, One thing only must I do: Quench my pride and cool my blood, Lest I perish in the flood.

For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories... The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself; to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.

Venerate four characters: the sanguine who has checked volatility and the rage for pleasure; the choleric who has subdued passion and pride; the phlegmatic emerged from indolence; and the melancholy who has dismissed avarice, suspicion and asperity.