Lines from the Mahabharata section in my swipe file that I enjoy coming back to: "Often the one who understands that he does nothing is the one who brings revolutionary change." "In life, the choice is rarely between struggle and peace. It's between struggle and less struggle." — Ganga "You don't stop crying when you stop the tears." "Change doesn't bring sorrow, but it always brings pain. That's why we resist it. Yet change is nature's principle, and nature's product is joy. In the end, all change brings joy." "Self-confidence is but a state of mind. And our state of mind is in our hands." Drona: A warrior must know his limitations. Your eyes are your limitation. Arjun: Not my eyes, Gurudev. Darkness is. Drona: If you can't break a stone, is your hand the limitation, or the stone? "Only the competent are tested. To teach patience to the rest." "A person who accepts every challenge has no faith in himself. A confident person accepts challenges according to his plans." "A man isn't made small or big by his tasks, but by his actions." "Don't measure age by the years one has lived, but by the sacrifices one has made." "One who feels only their own sorrow becomes weak and suffers. One who holds the world's suffering in their heart becomes strong." "Karya ki safalta tab milti hai jab shareer chanchal ho aur mann sthir." (Success comes when the body is restless and the mind is still.) Draupadi to Karna: "Adharm mukut mein nahi, mukut ki laalsa mein basta hai. Kahin aapne apni laalsa ko kartavya ka naam toh nahi de diya?" (Adharma doesn't live in the crown. It lives in the craving for it. Have you named your craving duty?) Draupadi: The Pandavas didn't even protest Duryodhan's injustice? And you call them powerful? Krishna: Those who protest aren't always powerful. Those who tolerate can be. Draupadi: How is tolerating injustice powerful? Krishna: When the heart is emptied of protest and anger, tolerance becomes the strength of dharma. Anger gives rise to revenge. Dharma gives rise to justice. "Chhal ka aashay yadi dharm ho, toh chhal bhi dharm hai." (If the intent behind deceit is dharma, then the deceit is dharma too.) "Dharma is like the sun, ever bright, bringing the day. Love is like the moon, comforting, but it also brings darkness." "Where there is struggle, there is no love. Where there is love, there is no struggle." "Our dharma is to live at peace with humanity, with compassion. That is the root of dharma." "Good behaviour isn't a way to future happiness. Good behaviour is happiness personified. The same goes for bad behaviour. Dharma isn't the means to happiness. Dharma is happiness itself." "The thorn on the tree only protects the tree." "Man believes he makes his own decisions. But one whose vision is clouded by emotion cannot. Those decisions are made by fate." — Vedvyas "Sukh pehchanne ki vastu hai, praapt karne ki nahi." (Joy is something you recognise, not something you acquire.) "One who wishes for joy doesn't get it. One who knows joy does. If you know what joy means to you, you shall have it." "Joy and contentment aren't places. They're paths. The path of joy leads to struggle. The path of contentment leads to peace." — Krishna "Getting something isn't winning. And losing something isn't losing altogether." "Sansaar = shram. Tapasya = vishraam." (Worldliness is labour. Meditation is the only rest.) "There are four kinds of friendship, in ascending order of value: those who spend time together for entertainment, those who create wealth together, those who plan for the welfare of society together, and those who search their souls together." "When you accept a daughter, you'll be blessed with a son."