89 Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes (On Freedom, Mind, Happiness)

By Maxime Lagacé

Maxime is the founder of WisdomQuotes. He has been collecting quotes since 2004. His goal? To help you develop a calm and peaceful mind. Learn more about him on his about page.

Best QuotesHappinessUnderstanding Yourself – AwarenessFreedomTruthMindFearSufferingWisdomKrishnamurti’s SecretCore Message

jiddu krishnamurti quotes freedom mind happiness wisdom

I’ve collected 500+ amazing quotes from Jiddu Krishnamurti since 2004.

He’s THE author that influenced me the most.

But you’re lucky:

This page contains only the top 89 quotes.

You don’t need to spend hours as I did.

What will you learn from this fascinating Indian speaker, author, and philosopher?

  • How your mind works
  • The benefits of self-understanding and self-awareness
  • Why you MUST distance yourself from your mind and the “known”

But remember:

You will probably don’t understand all his quotes at first.

Krishnamurti was profound. Even dark sometimes.

You will need to reread his quotes.

Again and again.

The good news?

You’ll be changed forever if you get them.

Krishnamurti (1895-1986) is like Osho, but even more direct.

Dalai Lama even said he’s “one of the greatest thinkers of the age.”

So are you ready to be shocked, surprised, and transformed?

P.S. Sometimes truth hurts, but it instructs.

Best Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes

jiddu krishnamurti quotes understand yourself beginning wisdom

To understand yourself is the beginning of wisdom. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Truth can only come to you; you cannot go to it. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Do not pursue what should be, but understand what is. Jiddu Krishnamurti

The mind has to be empty to see clearly. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Thought is never free because it is based on knowledge, and knowledge is always limited. Jiddu Krishnamurti

One is never afraid of the unknown. One is afraid of the known coming to an end. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Where there is fear there is obviously no freedom, and without freedom there is no love at all. Jiddu Krishnamurti

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jiddu krishnamurti quotes measure health adjusted sick society wisdom

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. Jiddu Krishnamurti

It’s beautiful to be alone. To be alone does not mean to be lonely. It means the mind is not influenced and contaminated by society. Jiddu Krishnamurti

To listen there must be an inward quietness, a freedom from the strain of acquiring, a relaxed attention. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Beauty is where there is order, a mind that is unconfused, that is absolutely orderly. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Love is a state of being when the activities of the self have ceased. Jiddu Krishnamurti

You are the world and the world is you. Jiddu Krishnamurti

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Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes On Happiness

jiddu krishnamurti quotes demand happy unhappiness wisdom

In that very demand that I must be happy is unhappiness. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Happiness is not old. Happiness is constantly renewing itself. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Happiness is strange; it comes when you are not seeking it. Jiddu Krishnamurti

It is only when the mind is free from the old that it meets everything anew, and in that there is joy. Jiddu Krishnamurti

We seek happiness through things, relationships, ideas or thought. So, things, relationship and ideas, and not happiness, become all-important. Jiddu Krishnamurti

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

So long as we depend upon another for inward peace, we shall not find it, for dependence only breeds fear. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Happy is the man who is nothing. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Key Takeaways

  • Happiness is not:
    • memory
    • something your mind achieves
    • something external (fame, power, status).
  • Happiness is when your mind is silent, when your self is silent.

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Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes On Understanding Yourself

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To know yourself you need not go to any book, to any priest, to any psychologist. The whole treasure is within yourself. Jiddu Krishnamurti

To go far you must begin very near. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Self-knowledge, or seeing what is false in the I, is the beginning of intelligence. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Self-understanding is an enormous task. It is not to be done casually, later on, tomorrow, but rather every day, every moment, all the time. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Understanding comes not through effort but spontaneously when there is an effortless relaxation. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Fear comes into being when there is ignorance. Since you are ignorant of yourself, there is a lack of confidence and there is fear. Jiddu Krishnamurti

The recognition of ‘what is’ – i.e. to accept and see what you actually are – is in itself a transformation. Jiddu Krishnamurti

I have to study myself in actuality – as I am, not as I wish to be. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Key Takeaways

  • Self-understanding leads to transformation.
  • Observe your mind and yourself. Accept yourself totally.

Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes On Awareness, Meditation

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The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence. Jiddu Krishnamurti

To be aware is to observe – just to observe – without any self-identifying process. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Meditation is not a withdrawal from life. Meditation is a process of understanding oneself. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Only with the understanding which comes with undivided interest and attention can the problem be solved and transcended. Jiddu Krishnamurti

In awareness there is no becoming, there is no end to be gained. There is silent observation without choice and condemnation, from which there comes understanding. Jiddu Krishnamurti

If awareness is not distorted, dissipated, but allowed to flow into ever deeper and wider comprehension, that very awareness will bring answers. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Meditation is freedom from thought and a movement in the ecstasy of truth. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Become aware of the course of desire; out of that awareness, there is born right thinking. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Become self-aware and discover why you have collected theories and explanations. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Meditation is the understanding of the totality of life. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Key Takeaways

  • Awareness (of the self and the world) is the first step to change.
  • Observe your thoughts through meditation and see how your mind works (its fears, judgments, etc.)
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Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes On Freedom

jiddu krishnamurti quotes not knowing freedom prison wisdom

Not-knowing is freedom. Knowing is prison. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Love, freedom, goodness and beauty are one, not separate. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Freedom is found in the choiceless awareness of our daily existence and activity. Jiddu Krishnamurti

There is freedom when the entire being, the superficial as well as the hidden, is purged of the past. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Freedom from craving is virtue. And as the mind approaches the eternal, there is the extinction of all desire. Jiddu Krishnamurti

It is only the free mind that can find out what is true, not the mind that is conditioned by beliefs, ideals and compulsions. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Each of us is a bundle of experiences and reactions. How is one to be free from this complex centre? Jiddu Krishnamurti

To live in the eternal present there must be death to the past, to memory. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Key Takeaways

  • Knowledge is essential, but it’s also your anchor (heavy and static).
  • Freedom is being aware of the relationship between your mind (which is scared) and knowledge (which gives security).

Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes On Truth, Reality

jiddu krishnamurti quotes truth liberates effort free wisdom

It is truth that liberates, not your effort to be free. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Truth is more in the process than in the result. Jiddu Krishnamurti

The moment truth is organized, propagated, it ceases to be the truth. It becomes a lie. Jiddu Krishnamurti

No truth can be found through any organization because truth comes when there is freedom and freedom cannot exist when there is belief. Jiddu Krishnamurti

True reality is not found through following anybody; it is not self-fulfilment. It comes into being only when the self is absent. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Only the mind which is capable of being in a state of not-knowing is free to discover reality. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Truth comes into being from moment to moment only in a state of freedom and spontaneity. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Key Takeaways

  • Truth is not
    • static
    • concrete
    • measurable
  • Truth is the abstract concept of being free from your mind, free from your past, 100% alert, and spontaneous.

Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes On Mind, Thinking

jiddu krishnamurti quotes understand immeasurable mind quiet wisdom

To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet, still. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Right thinking is not possible without thought freeing itself from prejudice and identification. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Ambition produces certain industrial benefits, but in its wake there is the darkening of the mind. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Only the mind that dies from day to day, from moment to moment, to all that it has accumulated, can know what the truth is. Jiddu Krishnamurti

The silent observation of the responses of the mind, without judgment, condemnation, or comparison, brings about revolution. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Your mind becomes ‘useful’ only when there are deep and wide spaces of stillness, for then only can there be timeless creation. Jiddu Krishnamurti

We can never look at a problem totally as long as the mind is merely demanding an answer, seeking inward security. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Key Takeaways

  • Most of us, through ambition, fill our minds with knowledge to achieve power, fame, and status.
  • Most of us, if we are truly serious about being free, should focus on understanding our minds (which gives us another kind of power).

Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes On Fear, Anger

jiddu krishnamurti quotes fear intelligence wisdom

Where there is fear there is no intelligence. Jiddu Krishnamurti

The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear. Jiddu Krishnamurti

We know how fear distorts and makes the mind small and also poisons the system. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Each one of us has built up this competitive, ruthless civilization, in which man is against man. 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

Your intellect has built walls of self-protection against all discovery and spontaneity, against freedom and understanding. 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

Remain with fear, don’t fight it. The more you fight it, the more there is fear. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Key Takeaways

  • Fear is the default mode of your mind from an evolutionary standpoint.
  • It’s possible, through self-awareness and patience, to understand fear, which brings clarity and calm.

Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes On Suffering, Craving

jiddu krishnamurti quotes fight become wisdom

The thing you fight, you become. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Can craving ever be satisfied, or is it a bottomless pit? Jiddu Krishnamurti

The whole process of our thinking is based on security. You want security because you do not know what you are. Jiddu Krishnamurti

We have masses of information, knowledge, innumerable beliefs, creeds, dogmas, but we are very shallow and unhappy. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Your mind is overcrowded; there is no space, no stillness in any part of it. Hence confusion, distractions and weariness. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Can the mind be free of the urge for experience, which is really the pursuit of sensation, and thereby make itself new, fresh? Jiddu Krishnamurti

The self is the cause of ignorance and sorrow, and its cause and effect is desire, the craving for power, wealth, fame. Jiddu Krishnamurti

We crave the satisfaction of having a position in society because we are afraid of being nobody. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Without transcending the self, there will always be ignorance and suffering. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Key Takeaways

  • Your suffering continues because you try to escape it.
  • What to do instead? Again, use self-awareness and meditation which will bring self-understanding. And with self-understanding comes acceptance and peace.

Jiddu Krishnamurti Quotes On Wisdom, Intelligence, Learning

jiddu krishnamurti quotes seeing observing listening acts wisdom

Seeing, observing, listening, these are the greatest acts. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Wisdom comes through the understanding of suffering. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Real learning comes about when the competitive spirit has ceased. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Put your books aside, forget your authorities and look at a problem directly. Jiddu Krishnamurti

We can help each other to find the door to reality, but each one must open that door for himself. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Freedom from the known is the essence of intelligence. It is this intelligence in operation in the universe. Jiddu Krishnamurti

That is the first thing to learn – not to seek. When you seek you are really only window-shopping. Jiddu Krishnamurti

The flow of awareness leads to the deep and still pools of wisdom. Jiddu Krishnamurti

If we do not love now, will we love tomorrow? Jiddu Krishnamurti

Key Takeaways

  • Wisdom is accepting reality as it is.
  • Wisdom is letting go of the past and the future. It’s being alert, yet calm, and ready to die, at any moment.

What was Krishnamurti’s secret?

jiddu krishnamurti quotes secret mind what happens wisdom

Here is my secret: I don’t mind what happens. Jiddu Krishnamurti

What was Krishnamurti’s main message?

Truth is a pathless land. Man cannot come to it through any organisation, through any creed, through any dogma, priest or ritual, not through any philosophical knowledge or psychological technique. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Conclusion

To understand oneself requires patience, tolerant awareness; the self is a book of many volumes which you cannot read in a day, but when once you begin to read, you must read every word, every sentence, every paragraph for in them are the intimations of the whole. The beginning of it is the ending of it. If you know how to read, supreme wisdom is to be found. Jiddu Krishnamurti

Further Readings

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Author Bio

maxime lagace

Maxime Lagacé started collecting quotes in 2004 after he lost his girlfriend in a car accident.

In search of meaning, he dived in the self-improvement world, psychology and trail running.

Books, blogs, quotes and nature became his guide.

He started journaling, reflecting, writing his thoughts, feelings and quotes.

His goal was to understand his pain, his depression, his fears, his lack of motivation and inspiration.

He finished his software engineering degree in 2007 at the École de Technologie Supérieure de Montréal.

A few years later, he started his first website to share his love of quotes.

Maxime is a father of two, husband, and INFJ.

Other notable interests of Maxime are health (mental and physical), meditation, bananas, SEO, human potential, and education.

You can find him on X, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube.

Last update

January 8, 2023

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