There is a criterion by which you can judge whether the thoughts you are thinking and the things you are doing are right for you. The criterion is: Have they brought you inner peace?
Peace PilgrimRead
Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our attachments to material possessions can dominate our lives, preventing us from true freedom.
Peace Pilgrim's quote emphasizes the idea that holding on to things that no longer serve us can lead to a kind of captivity. In a society that values material wealth, many may find themselves defined or limited by their possessions, rather than valuing the freedom that comes from letting go.
Themes
MaterialismPossessionsFreedomAttachmentLetting Go
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about minimalism, one could use this quote to illustrate the importance of simplifying one's life.
More from Peace Pilgrim
All quotes βDo not suppress it - that would hurt you inside. Do not express it - this would not only hurt you inside, it would cause ripples in your surroundings. What you do is transform it.
Peace PilgrimRead
Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens. If you have them, you have to take care of them! There is great freedom in simplicity of living. It is those who have enough but not too much who are the happiest.
Peace PilgrimRead
One little person, giving all of her time to peace, makes news. Many people, giving some of their time, can make history.
Peace PilgrimRead
Similar quotes
What the government wants is something they never had before. They want total awareness. The question is, is that something we should be allowing?
Edward SnowdenRead
Remembrance restores possibility to the past, making what happened incomplete and completing what never was. Remembrance is neither what happened nor what did not happen but, rather, their potentialization, their becoming possible once again.
Giorgio AgambenRead
Society is now one polished horde, formed of two mighty tries, the Bores and Bored.
Lord ByronRead
The senseless killing of 20 children and their teachers and principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School was not part of God's grand plan. It was a thwarting of God's plan. It was the misuse of human freedom.
Adam HamiltonRead
Losing my father made me want to find out if I could come up with a version of God or the afterlife that I could feel like was acceptable now that both my parents are in it.
Tracy K. SmithRead
But if the Vision was true and mighty, as I know, it is true and mighty yet;for such things are of Spirit, and it is in the darkness of their eyes that men get lost.
Black ElkRead