130+ Thought-Provoking Quotes by Jiddu Krishnamurti On Fear, Life, Love, and Consciousness
Last updated on July 29th, 2024 at 04:51 pm
Jiddu Krishnamurti, a well-known philosopher and spiritual teacher, is celebrated worldwide for his profound wisdom. He delivered thought-provoking speeches to global audiences, emphasizing the pressing need for a fundamental shift in humanity.
What sets him apart is his refusal to align with any religious, political, or ideological group, as he believed these divisions fuelled conflict and strife. Read more on his life and teachings here.
Krishnamurti consistently reminded us that, above all else, we are human beings, interconnected and alike, transcending religious or national labels. His message encouraged us to cherish our planet and tread lightly upon it, nurturing a deep respect for nature.
Here are a few thought-provoking quotes by Jiddu Krishnamurti that may challenge your perspective on life.
J. Krishnamurti Quotes on Being Alone
It is good to be alone. To be far away from the world and yet walk its streets is to be alone. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
If you do not follow somebody, you feel very lonely. Be lonely then. Why are you frightened of being alone? ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
It is love alone that leads to right action. What brings order in the world is to love and let love do what it will. ~Jiddu Krishnamurti
Meditate alone. Get lost. And don’t try to remember where you have been. If you try to remember it then it will be something that is dead. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
The ache of loneliness fills our hearts, and the mind covers it with fear. Loneliness, that deep isolation, is the dark shadow of our life. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
What a strange thing is loneliness, and how frightening it is! We never allow ourselves to get too close to it; and if by chance we do, we quickly run away from it. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Motivational J. Krishnamurti Quotes on Expanding Consciousness
The moment I am aware that I am aware, I’m not aware. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
It is truth that liberates, not your effort to be free. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Your God is not God, it is an image of your own making. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Consciousness is its content: the content makes up consciousness. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Your consciousness is not actually yours; it is the consciousness of man. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
God hasn’t created all this misery, has he? If he has, he must be an odd god, a sadist god. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
God or truth comes into being from moment to moment only in a state of freedom and spontaneity. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
If you as a human being transform yourself, you affect the consciousness of the rest of the world. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
The emptying of consciousness of all its content is to have total movement in perception and action. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Meditation is not a practice; it is not the cultivation of habit; meditation is heightened awareness. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
The importance that is given to the hidden layers of consciousness is still on the surface, without any depth. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
When one loses the deep intimate relationship with nature, then temples, mosques and churches become important. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
I maintain that truth is a pathless land, and you cannot approach it by any path whatsoever, by any religion, by any sect. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
The feeling that is aroused when you see something extraordinarily beautiful has nothing to do with sentimentality or emotion. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
When I kill an Arab, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, a communist, whoever it is, I am killing myself. I wonder if you realise this, basically. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
It is no use sitting in a corner meditating about myself. I cannot exist by myself. I exist only in relationship to people, things and ideas. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
If you are simply aware of the whole structure of habit without resistance, there is freedom from habit, and in that freedom a new thing takes place. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Nobody can teach you about yourself except yourself, so you have to be the guru and the disciple yourself, and learn from yourself. What you learn from another is not true. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Organised religions throughout the world have laid down rules, disciplines, attitudes and beliefs. But have they resolved human suffering or the deep-rooted anxieties and guilt? ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
The self can never be anonymous; it may put on a new robe, assume a different name, but identity is its very substance. This identifying process prevents the awareness of its own nature. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
To be aware means to be sensitive, alive to the things about one, to nature, to people, to colour, to trees, to the environment, to the social structure, the whole thing; to be aware outwardly of all that’s happening and to be aware of what is happening inside. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
J. Krishnamurti Quotes on Fear
The ambitious man is afraid to be what he is. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Fear can exist only in relationship; fear cannot exist by itself, in isolation. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
One is never afraid of the unknown; one is afraid of the known coming to an end. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
When there is no fear, the mind is in quite a different dimension. Only then can you ask whether there is a God or not. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Fear twists our ideas and makes crooked the ways of our life; it creates barriers between people, and it certainly destroys love. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Fear is an extraordinary jewel which has dominated human beings. If you can hold it and look at it, one begins to see the ending of it. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
There is fear of the present, of the future, fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of not fulfilling, fear of not being loved—there are so many fears, all created by the machinery of thought. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
To understand a child we have to watch him at play, study him in his different moods; we cannot project upon him our own prejudices, hopes and fears, or mould him to fit the pattern of our desires. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
J. Krishnamurti Quotes on Freedom
Not-knowing is freedom. Knowing is prison. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Love, freedom, goodness and beauty are one, not separate. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Freedom is to look at a fact without any idea, to look without thought. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Meditation is freedom from thought and a movement in the ecstasy of truth. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
We think having capacity to choose gives us freedom. Choice is the very denial of freedom. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
There is freedom when the entire being, the superficial as well as the hidden, is purged of the past. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Without freedom from conditioning, humanity will always remain a prisoner and life will remain a battlefield. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
If the mind is alert, watchful, without choice, there is freedom from the limitation of the self, and therefore there is peace, which brings its own security. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Freedom and love go together. Love is not a reaction. If I love you because you love me, that is mere trade, a thing to be bought in the market; it is not love. To love is not to ask anything in return, not even to feel that you are giving something – and it is only such love that can know freedom. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
J. Krishnamurti Quotes on Intelligence
Thought is measurable; intelligence is not. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
We are intellectually concerned with the idea of awareness, yet not actually aware of what is taking place. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Freedom from the known is the essence of intelligence. It is this intelligence in operation in the universe. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
The body has its own intelligence; it requires a great deal of intelligence to observe the intelligence of the body. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Intelligence is the capacity to perceive the essential, the what is; to awaken this capacity, in oneself and in others, is education. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Training the intellect does not result in intelligence. Intelligence comes into being when one acts in perfect harmony, intellectually and emotionally. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Whatever you do is in the pattern of habits. So to do nothing, to have the feeling that you don’t have to fight it, is the greatest action of intelligence. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
J. Krishnamurti’s Quotes on The Essence of Life
You are the world and the world is you. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Nobody need tell you how to look. You just look. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Leaders destroy the followers and followers destroy the leaders. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
To be open to the source of all happiness is the highest religion. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
When you have no motive you are free to observe your conditioning. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
I have to study myself in actuality – as I am, not as I wish to be. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Recognition is not happiness; to know what it is to be happy is not happiness. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Without passion there is no creation. Total abandonment brings this unending passion. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Society is based on ambition and conflict, and almost everyone accepts this fact as inevitable. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Smoking, drinking, or any other habit, is an escape from your own nervousness or disturbed state. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
One can live in this world anonymously, completely unknown, without being famous, ambitious, cruel. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
When death comes, it does not ask your permission; it comes and takes you, it destroys you on the spot. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
When one says ‘I know you,’ one means, ‘I know you as you were yesterday; I don’t know you actually now. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
When one is in disorder and confusion, society becomes utterly chaotic; then that very disorder creates authority. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
To live in the eternal present there must be death to the past, to memory. In this death there is timeless renewal. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
When you struggle against disturbance, or defend yourself against outer or inner threat, you know you are conditioned. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Passion is rather a frightening thing because if we have such a complete passion, we do not know where it will take us. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
It begins at school and you go through life repeating what others have said. You are therefore second-hand human beings. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
It is a waste of energy when we try to conform to a pattern. To conserve energy, we must be aware of how we dissipate energy. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
The thing called passion has to be understood and not suppressed or sublimated, and it is no good finding a substitute for it. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
If there is to be any kind of social change, there must be a different kind of education so that children are not brought up to conform. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Do you live in the world of ideas? If you live in the world of ideas and conclusions, that is not truth but just a projection of thought. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
You cannot depend upon anybody. There is no guide, no teacher, no authority. There is only you – your relationship with others and with the world. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
If we know how to look at violence, not only outwardly in society – the wars, riots, national antagonisms and class conflicts – but also in ourselves, perhaps we shall be able to go beyond it. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
You must understand the whole of life, not just one part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, why you must sing, dance and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Governments want efficient technicians, not human beings, because human beings become dangerous to governments – and to organised religions as well. That is why governments and religious organisations seek to control education. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Have you ever looked at a tree without a single word of like or dislike, without a single image? What then takes place? For the first time, you see the tree as it is and you see the beauty of it, the colour, depth and vitality of it. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
All great things start on a small scale, all great movements begin with individuals; and if we wait for collective action, such action, if it takes place at all, is destructive and conducive to further misery. So revolution must begin with you and me. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Ambition is a form of power, the desire for power over oneself and others, the power to do something better than anybody else. In ambition is a sense of comparison, and so the ambitious man is not a creative man, is never a happy man; in himself he is discontented. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Transformative Quotes on Love by J. Krishnamurti
Love is as real, as strong, as death. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Action born of hatred can only create further hatred. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Love can do nothing, but without it nothing can be done. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
All feelings and emotions are related to the brain, and love is not. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Beauty is never time-binding; it is wholly free of time and so of culture. It is there when the self is not. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Love is not sentiment. To be sentimental or emotional is not love, because sentimentality and emotion are mere sensations. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Love will arise in your heart when you have no barrier between yourself and another, when you meet and observe people without judging them. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Emptiness comes as sunset comes of an evening, full of beauty, enchantment and richness; it comes as naturally as the blossoming of a flower. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Is it possible to have a relationship with another in which there is no friction whatsoever? It is possible only when I understand what love is. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Love is anonymous. I may love my wife and my children, but the quality of that love is anonymous. Like the sunset, love is neither yours nor mine. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Happiness is strange; it comes when you are not seeking it. When you are not making an effort to be happy, then unexpectedly, mysteriously, happiness is there, born of purity, of a loveliness of being. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Quotes on Mastering the Mind by J. Krishnamurti
The thing you fight, you become. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Real learning comes about when the competitive spirit has ceased. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
There is no thinker apart from thought; thought has made the thinker. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
If one is attentive, aware of inattention, out of that flowers attention. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Tradition becomes our security, and when the mind is secure it is in decay. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Thought shattering itself against its own nothingness is the explosion of meditation. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Beauty is where there is order, a mind that is unconfused, that is absolutely orderly. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Thought is so cunning, so clever, that it distorts everything for its own convenience. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
The conscious mind must be still in order to receive the projection of the unconscious. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Thought is never free because it is based on knowledge, and knowledge is always limited. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
When you fight a habit you give life to that habit; and the fighting becomes another habit. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
A mind that believes there is a God, or that there is no God, is a conditioned, prejudiced mind. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Each one of us has built up this competitive, ruthless civilization, in which man is against man. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Sentiment and emotion can be turned either way: to kill, or to unify over some foolish intention. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Ambition produces certain industrial benefits, but in its wake there is the darkening of the mind. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Emotions or sensations are natural, healthy, normal. But when thought takes over, all the mischief begins. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Most of us think pleasure is happiness, and the greatest pleasure we consider to be the greatest happiness. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Can the mind be aware of emptiness without naming it, running away from it or judging it, but just be with it? ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Forget all you know about yourself; forget all you have ever thought about yourself; start as if you know nothing. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Habit is the repetition of a pleasurable act brought about by the stimulating memories and images the mind evokes. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
To understand confusion, belief is not necessary. Belief only acts as a screen between ourselves and our problems. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Remain with sorrow completely, without any movement of thought, and you will find out of that sorrow comes passion. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
The craving for individual or group security brings on destruction, and to be safe psychologically engenders illusion. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Beauty: not only sensitivity to outward reality, but being sensitive to that beauty which is beyond and above thought and feeling. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
A mind that is full of conclusions is a dead mind, it is not a living mind. A living mind is a free mind, learning, never concluding. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
You can discover truth only if you are willing to give your whole mind and heart to it, not a few moments of your easily spared time. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
If the observer is differentiated from the thing observed, there is a contradiction. That very contradiction is the cause of confusion. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
In all our relationships each one of us builds an image about the other, and these two images have relationship, not the human beings themselves. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Truth cannot be given to you by somebody. You have to discover it; and to discover there must be a state of mind in which there is direct perception. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
All ideologies are idiotic, whether religious or political, for it is conceptual thinking, the conceptual word, which has so unfortunately divided us. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
He who plunges into action without considering the problem, thinking that he is reforming the world – it is he who is creating greater confusion and misery. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
The more you know yourself, the more clarity there is. Self-knowledge has no end – you don’t achieve, you don’t come to a conclusion. It is an endless river. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
To be free of all authority, your own and that of another, is to die to everything of yesterday, so that your mind is fresh, young, innocent, full of vigour and passion. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
One can only find out what is sacred when thought has discovered its right place, without effort or will, and there is this immense sense of silence; the silence of the mind without any movement of thought. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
A mind that is not concerned with itself, that is free of ambition, a mind that not caught up in its own desires or driven by its own pursuit of success – such a mind is not shallow and it flowers in goodness. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
In the presence of a person who is angry, see what takes place if one is aware of it and does not respond. The moment one is aware of the other person’s anger and one does not react, there is quite a different response. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Follow the wandering, the distraction, find out why the mind has wandered; pursue it, go into it fully. When the distraction is completely understood, that particular distraction is gone. When another comes, pursue it also. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
There is true security when you destroy those things that are keeping people apart, fighting each other in wars which are the result of nationalities and governments. You will not have peace or happiness so long as these things exist. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
When you separate yourself by belief, nationality or tradition, it breeds violence. So one who is seeking to understand violence does not belong to any country, religion or political party, but is concerned with the total understanding of mankind. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
Krishnamurti’s legacy lives on through his timeless wisdom and his impact on the world of philosophy and spirituality.