1. "Everything comes and everything goes, but the spirit abides forever. Therefore, if the spirit residing inside is taken as an unchangeable foundation and if one leans on it, the task of life will be solved correctly." [Facets of Agni Yoga 1955, 527]
2. "Only the world of spirit is truly strong, for it is indestructible and invincible." [Hierarchy, 146]
3. "Many people believe the meaning of life is in the very essence of it, but the meaning is not in it, but in the ultimate goal. The whole life of the ship is adapted and approved only in order to reach the harbor. Aimless wandering at sea would be ridiculous, but people continue to find its meaning in the deeds of the day, devoid of final meaning. It turns out to be an imbalance and fruitless attempts to grab the crests of the waves and hold on to the transitory. Until the center of focus, emphasis and strength is found and established within, there cannot be life in the true meaning of the word. ... The path of those who have established themselves is victorious, and the shock of those who believe it in something external. It is necessary to ensure that the mood, that is, the turning of the harp of the spirit, does not depend on anything happening outside the microcosm, and, unaffected by anything external, would be a self-sufficient phenomenon. A person either controls himself or is controlled from the outside by both people and circumstances. Let life flow outwards as it pleases. This flow depends on many reasons, but life inside is regulated by the will, and it depends on it not to turn into a puppet or a weather vane for external influences. …Everything is inside a person. Everything is determined by the inner fire. We will firmly establish the foundation stone in ourselves." [Facets of Agni Yoga 1953, 589]
4. "The path lies through consciousness and through consciousness, therefore the state of consciousness and its reaction to external influences are important, but not what is happening outside. And no matter what happens outside, consciousness, which has been decided forever and irrevocably, does not break its path. It is good and useful to understand more deeply this possibility of the independence of the ways of the spirit from the changing ... conditions through which it has to pass. The audience in the theater both cries and laughs, and experiences what is happening on stage, and yet does not accept it as reality. ... It is necessary to separate oneself from the outside world in consciousness, not allowing it to capture the entire horizon." [Facets of Agni Yoga 1954, 295]
5. "The one who is tied to the Earth cannot be free. The chained Prometheus is a symbol of the spirit, although it has found fire, but it has not been freed from the Earth. And it is necessary to be free, and precisely by spirit and in spirit. And there is no need to leave life, no closures, no refusal, no killing of the flesh – nothing is needed; one thing is required – to realize one's indestructible, imperishable, immortal essence, which has already passed through many forms and lives and will continue to pass, rising to the stars. The eternal is in the spirit andmust overcome the temporal and stand above it. ... The center of consciousness from the outside is, as it were, transferred and concentrated inside, that is, the preponderance is given to the inner over the outer. It is necessary, finally, to understand and feel that everything external will go away sooner or later, but the inner will remain. Which is more important? The external is important only insofar as it can expand, enrich and multiply the inner wealth. The external is not an end, but only a means to an end. It is not self-sufficient. Therefore, it is impossible to rely on it. The tone is set by the spirit, the tone in which life should sound." [Facets of Agni Yoga 1955, 438]
