QuoteProject
The greatest error of a man is to think that he is weak by nature, evil by nature. Every man is divine and strong in his real nature. What are weak and evil are his habits, his desires and thoughts, but not himself.
Ramana Maharshi
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote emphasizes that a person's true nature is inherently strong and divine, not defined by their weaknesses or negative traits.

Ramana Maharshi's quote serves to remind us that every individual possesses an intrinsic strength and divinity that is often overshadowed by their negative habits, desires, and thoughts. It encourages a deeper understanding of oneself, suggesting that recognizing and transforming these negative aspects can lead to a realization of one's true, powerful nature.

Themes

StrengthDivinitySelfNatureHabitsThoughtsDesires

In practice

Example use cases

In a motivational speech about self-empowerment.

More from Ramana Maharshi

Like the practice of breath control, meditation on the forms of God, repetition of mantras, food restrictions, etc., are but aids for rendering the mind quiescent.
Ramana MaharshiRead
Think of God; attachments will gradually drop away. If you wait till all desires disappear before starting your devotion and prayer, you will have to wait for a very long time indeed.
Ramana MaharshiRead
The mind of one meditating on a single object becomes one-pointed. And one-pointedness of mind leads to abidance in the self. Real attainment is to be fully conscious, to be aware of surroundings and the people around, to move among them all, but not to merge consciousness in the environment. One should remain in inner independent awareness.
Ramana MaharshiRead
You need not aspire for or get any new state. Get rid of your present thoughts, that is all.
Ramana MaharshiRead
Realisation is not acquisition of anything new nor is it a new faculty. It is only removal of all camouflage
Ramana MaharshiRead
Bliss is a thing which is always there and is not something which comes and goes. That which comes and goes is a creation of the mind.
Ramana MaharshiRead

Similar quotes

Our behavior toward each other is the strangest, most unpredictable, and most unaccountable of all the phenomena with which we are obliged to live. In all of nature, there is nothing so threatening to humanity as humanity itself.
Lewis ThomasRead
Anything can become excusable when seen from the standpoint of the result
Yukio MishimaRead
The difficulty we have in accepting responsibility for our behavior lies in the desire to avoid the pain of the consequences of that behavior.
M. Scott PeckRead
Every little bit, every atom inside the universe, is in a constant state of change and motion, but the universe as a whole is unchangeable, because motion or change is a relative thing; we can only think of something in motion in comparison with something which is not moving.
Swami VivekanandaRead
The right to freedom being the gift of God, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave.
Samuel AdamsRead
We do not want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God. We do not want to learn that. We may quarrel with men sometimes about things on this earth, but we never quarrel about the Great Spirit. We do not want to learn that.
Chief JosephRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.