A biography for Swami Sivanandahasn’t been written yet.
“There is no end of craving. Hence contentment alone is the best way to happiness. Therefore, acquire contentment.”
“Do not love leisure. Waste not a minute. Be bold. Realize the Truth, here and now!”
“Moral values, and a culture and a religion, maintaining these values are far better than laws and regulations.”
“If you do not know the laws of right conduct, you cannot form your character.”
“Practice meditation regularly. Meditation leads to eternal bliss. Therefore meditate, meditate.”
“Meditation is painful in the beginning but it bestows immortal Bliss and supreme joy in the end.”
“Desire is poverty. Desire is the greatest impurity of the mind. Desire is the motive force for action. Desire in the mind is the real impurity. Even a spark of desire is a very great evil.”
“Thinking of disease constantly will intensify it. Feel always 'I am healthily in body and mind'.”
“Terrible is the fight put up by the senses. Fight bravely! Conquer them you must.”
“Today is your own. Tomorrow perchance may never come.”
“Humility is not cowardice. Meekness is not weakness. Humility and meekness are indeed spiritual powers.”
“Desire nothing, give up all desires and be happy.”
“A desire arises in the mind. It is satisfied immediately another comes. In the interval which separates two desires a perfect calm reigns in the mind. It is at this moment freed from all thought, love or hate. Complete peace equally reigns between two mental waves.”
“The real spiritual progress of the aspirant is measured by the extent to which he achieves inner tranquility.”
“The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph. Self-realization demands very great struggle.”
“It is divinity that shapes, not only your ends, but also your acts, your words and thoughts.”
“Your duty is to treat everybody with love as a manifestation of the Lord.”
“Always do good to others. Be selfless. Mentally remove everything and be free. This is divine life. This is the direct way to Moksha or salvation.”
“There is something good in all seeming failures. You are not to see that now. Time will reveal it. Be patient.”
“Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.”