Worry about what might happen to life, reputation, wealth and authority in the very next moment is haunting everyone; insecurity stalks the land, torn by hatred and greed. People have lost the comfort of self-reliance; they have no faith in their own strength, and no confidence in others. Man is the most devalued entity today; everything else has risen in value. Man is cheap and he can be neglected with impunity. He knows not his own greatness or worth. He does not know how to elevate the smallest act of his into a means of realising the Grace of the Lord. He does not know the alchemy by which every failure or disappointment can be transmuted into a golden chance for self-surrender and for building up the bulwark of Bhakthi (devotion). He fritters away precious time in paltry activities and petty pleasures, which lower his self-respect and injure his physical and mental calibre. One must try to live up to the great traditions of one’s forefathers and the great men of one’s motherland.

- Divine Discourse, Anantapur High School for Girls, School Day, 1966.