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
[The purpose of a written constitution is] to bind up the several branches of government by certain laws, which, when they transgress, their acts shall become nullities; to render unnecessary an appeal to the people, or in other words a rebellion, on every infraction of their rights, on the peril that their acquiescence shall be construed into an intention to surrender those rights.
Thomas JeffersonRead
Every breath you take, you are getting closer to the grave. But every breath you take, you can also get closer to your liberation.
Jaggi VasudevRead
Yet not for a single moment did I have any doubts about my own integrity and honour as a woman. I knew that my profession had been invented by men, and that men were in control of both our worlds, the one on earth, and the one in heaven. That men force women to sell their bodies at a price, and that the lowest paid body is that of a wife. All women are prostitutes of one kind or another.
Nawal El SaadawiRead
A hundred times have I thought New York is a catastrophe and 50 times: It is a beautiful catastrophe.
Le CorbusierRead
A man's rights rest in three boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.
Frederick DouglassRead
I am not interested in the past. I am interested in the future, for that is where I expect to spend the rest of my life.
Charles KetteringRead