Talk like Yoda, do you? I’ve compiled a list of 10 Yoda quotes that I find most interesting, insightful and applicable to our daily lives.
Don’t worry, there is no need for you to talk like Yoda in order to understand these Yoda quotes. Enjoy 🙂
1. “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? No. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.“
One of the greatest quotes in regard to the Force and life. Yoda basically explains that size really does not matter when it comes to dealing with the Force. The Force flows through everything. Every living being has potential to manipulate the Force to a certain degree. If you master the art of telekinesis, you know it is as easy to levitate a pebble as to tear down a building. The only limitation is belief.
Yea, right, now you might ask” “If it is so easy, why don’t Jedi and Sith use it to destroy spaceships and planets?“. Well, first of all, sometimes, they do. One example is Galen Marek alias Starkiller, who was able to crash a star destroyer using the Force. But generally, many great Jedi and Sith simply lack the strength in the Force and mastery of focus and belief to use telekinesis to such a degree.
2. “That is why you fail.“
One of the best answers you can get if you say “I don’t believe it.” The answer given by Yoda to Luke when he failed to retrieve his X-wing from the swamp on the planet Dagobah.
Mind is a powerful tool and if you want to achieve something in life, you must believe you can actually do it. If you don’t, then subconsciously you are building mental blocks which are stopping you from reaching your goals.
3. “Fear is the path to the dark side…fear leads to anger…anger leads to hate…hate leads to suffering.“
As you progress in life, naturally, challenges come to you with a welcoming ‘Hello!’. Some challenges might prove difficult (that’s why there are called challenges) and can easily force you to feel fear. We fear about doing or not doing certain things, about losing our loved ones, we fear death, the list goes on. The true challenge lies in how we approach that fear. If we let it control us, it will overwhelm us, we become frustrated and angry, we start to hate.. and believe me, nothing good ever comes of hate (unless you are a skillful Sith, of course).
4. “Attachment leads to jealously. The shadow of greed, that is. Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.“
Being a Jedi is no simple task. In the Old Repulic, Jedi were forbidden to form romantic attachments, because there was always a chance to become jealous, which could easily lead to negative emotions like fear, anger and even hate. An unhealthy attachment was the downfall of many a Jedi. Sometimes, it can be beneficial to meditate or simply thing about our personal attachments to see if we are really in control.
5. “Clear your mind must be, if you are to find the villains behind this plot.“
Alright, maybe we don’t need to find villains every now and then, but the quote is a good reminder to always think with a cool head. We can think of the ‘villans’ as of the problems that we want to solve.
Often we force ourselves to do something in haste, while we are angry or nervous and in most cases, very little is achieved by this approach. It is a common misconception that we can achieve more with haste. Sometimes, we just need to stop, sit down and clear our minds. You would be surprised how often a solution magically appears, once we calm down.
6. “Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.“
Yoda’s observation of Jedi younglings when they came up with a suprisingly accurate and insightful ideas about the lost planet of Kamino, which Obi-Wan was trying to find. Yoda points out that the mind of a child can be really innovate and creative, possibly because it is not yet affected by common dogmas and opinions of others. Children often see things simply how they are or how they should be. Don’t understimate the clarity of child’s understanding of life.
7. “Much to learn you still have…my old padawan. This is just the beginning!”
Yoda’s version of Socrates’ quote “I know one thing; that I know nothing”. A wise person knows that there is still much to learn, no matter how much we know. When we are truly knowledgeable, it becomes crystal clear that in one lifetime, we cannot possibly understand everything that goes around us. What we can do is to learn, observe, think, try to understand and share our knowledge.
8. “Mind what you have learned. Save you it can.“
While it is very important to learn and be knowledgeable, knowledge itself is not wisdom. Wisdom is to apply that knowledge in a practical manner – in our daily lives. It is important to apply what we learn. A Jedi can read every datacard about Soresu lightsaber combat form, thus mastering and memorizing every move and sequence of the form on a theoretical level, he wouldn’t be a match for a Jedi who actually practiced sequences of the form.
9. “Control, control, you must learn control!“
Learning to be in control, to stay focused for as long as needed is the key to achieve success. It is always good to improve your abilities, especially the ones you have problems with. For some, it might be focusing on one thing for longer periods of time, others might lack patience, while others are afraid to fail.
Mastering the ability to control, to be patient, to stay focused on the task at hand can be beneficial to practically every aspect of daily life. There is nothing to lose and everything to gain.
10. “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
Definitely the most famous quote by Yoda in the Star Wars universe. The quote was a response to Luke’s “All right, I’ll give it a try“, when he was tasked to pull his X-wing from the Dagobah swamp. Luke has given up hope to complete his task before he even begun by doubting his own abilities. Jedi must fully trust their own abilities and the Force to achieve their goals. One’s mind must be set straight – you either do it, or you don’t.
That’s it. I hope you enjoyed the list of top 10 Yoda quotes that I put together and that it brought you something positive.
If you would like to share your own quote or add something else, please let me know in the comments below. 🙂