An ideal is a port toward which we resolve to steer. We may not reach it. The mere fact that our goal is definitely located does not suffice to conduct us thither. But surely we shall thus stand a better chance of making port in the end than if we drift about aimlessly, the sport of winds and tides, without having decided in our own minds in what direction we ought to bend our course. The moral law is the expression of our inmost nature, and when we live in consonance with it we feel that we are living out our true being.

Sometimes I receive letters from brothers and sisters saying, ‘Oh Master, we would so like to be like you. You are an example for us.’ But I say that you should take the sun as your example, as I do. I look to the sun, and I point toward it to encourage you to go in that direction. Do not stop at me; go right past me to the sun, immerse yourself in its life, its warmth and its light, so that you can become like it. As for me, think of me as being a signpost that shows you the path you should take. So, do not stop at the signpost. When you travel along a road, and you see a sign that says Paris or Frejus, you do not stop there and hug it saying, ‘How I love you, dear signpost. How I love your beautiful lettering, and how well you point out the direction I should take!’ No, you keep traveling until you reach Paris or Frejus.

Ideals are imaginative understanding of that which is desirable in that which is possible.

If you light a lamp for somebody, it will also brighten your path.

Surround yourself with people who illuminate your path.

Desire dazzles, and the sun gives life.

Follow you the star that lights a desert pathway, yours or mine. Forward, till you see the Highest Human Nature is divine.

Be the sun and all will see you.

Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.

Walk until the darkness is a memory and you become the sun on the next traveler's horizon.

Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny.

Be the light that inspires others to dream.

In one word, this ideal is that you are divine.

Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your Ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.