Everyone is eager to be happy; everyone wants to work less and gain more, give little and get amply, but no one experiments the other route, that is, desire less and give more. Every ‘want’ is a shackle that hinders ‘progress’. A young college student can roam free on two legs; when they marry, they become four-footed! A child makes them six-footed; the range of their movements become restricted. More the feet, less the speed; a centipede can only crawl! Accumulation of sofas and chairs, cots and tables clutter the hall and render movements slow and risky. Reduce wants, and live simply, that is the way to happiness. Attachment brings sorrow in its wake! At last, when death demands that everything and everyone be left behind, you are overpowered with grief! Be like the lotus on water – on it, not in it. Water is necessary for the lotus to grow, but it will not allow even a drop to wet it!

- Divine Discourse, May 15, 1969.