Reduce your wants to the minimum! A foolish desire to be up-to-date and to keep up with fashion, has made you gather needless habits and unnecessary articles. Examine your room, table, wardrobe, etc. and find out how many superfluous things you have accumulated. You have acquired them because you saw someone having them and you felt that unless you too possessed them you will look small in their company. You can all be happy with much less equipment than you seem to think essential. Once an article is with you for some time, you feel it is indispensable and you do not know how to live without it. Like the silkworm, you weave a cocoon for yourself, out of your fancy! Do not allow costly habits to grow; they are costly from the monetary as well as spiritual point of view. Watch your likes and dislikes with a vigilant eye and discard anything that threatens to encumber your spiritual path.

- Divine Discourse, Feb 24, 1965.