I have a confession to make…
I haven’t seen one Star Wars movie!!!
I know right, crazy! How on earth does one get to be 35 years of age and never have seen Star Wars?
Well, I guess it was never introduced to me. And by the time I actually heard of it, (probably late teens) it just wasn’t something I was willing to commit to. Hopefully, I’m not offending anyone – too much.
One day, I guess I’ll get round to it and when I do, it’s likely due to the legendary Yoda.
For this post, I went searching high and low for Yoda’s famous quotes, many I had heard of and some new ones sang to my ears.
Table of Contents
Who Is Yoda?
An eccentric character of an unknown species, Yoda was the leader of the Jedi Order from an unknown planet and reached the age of 900 years old.
He was extremely knowledgeable of the Force, an expert teacher, speaking true wisdom to everyone who made contact with him. He was believed to be one of the most powerful Jedi Masters by the second trilogy series.
Why You Should Listen to Yoda?
Yoda had an interesting way with words where most of his speach could be interpreted as cryptic-riddle like quotes that would usually contain a hidden meaning.
On the surface, Yoda’s quotes could be interpreted as subtle gestures of inspiration but on a deeper level he spoke of pure wisdom that could help shift the mindset of any listener.
Whether you’re a fan of Star Wars or not, most will agree that Yoda’s powerful quotes can be used to teach great mental strength, discipline, motivation and undying belief in oneself.
Yoda Quotes Full of Wisdom to Awaken The Force Within You
I’ve listed my favourite Yoda quotes below with a short interpretation of them to uncover their true and full meaning.
Understanding what Yoda was saying can help you discover many principles of life, speak of them to yourself or with friends to reminisce of the classic movie franchise or encourage yourself of success in everything you do.
1. “Do or do not. There is no try.” – Yoda
We often try to achieve things in life in which we give up on or our motivation to achieve them dwindles away. This quote is all about mindset and believing in the process, having complete faith in your ability and never giving up even when it seems impossible.
2. “You must unlearn what you have learned.” – Yoda
When we get to adulthood and decide to take on the world, we realise that what it takes to accomplish our goals can be more difficult than we first thought. This is often due to needing to unlearn things that we were taught to believe when we were kids and in our teens.
3. “Named must be your fear before banish it you can.” – Yoda
Yoda is stating that to eliminate your fears, you must first become aware of what your fears are. Once you understand what fears are holding you back, you’ll do a much better job at preventing them from getting in your way when setting out to achieve your goals.
4. “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” – Yoda
Does this one even need an explanation? Yoda makes it clear in this one that fear is the cause of most of our suffering as it can have such an impact on the rest of our life.
5. “The greatest teacher, failure is.” – Yoda
Most of us go through life doing everything in our power to avoid failure, yet Yoda speaks the truth here. Sometimes the route to our success is through failure and more times than often, we’ll learn something profound when we do.
6. “Pass on what you have learned.” – Yoda
On the surface, it can be a very simple concept to pass on the things you learn in life but thinking about this on a deeper level reveals its importance. For example: When you learn how to do something well and it brings you success and fulfilment, imagine how it’ll benefit the people around you if you helped them achieve the same level of success; and imagine how it’ll benefit you if everyone in your circle is living in harmony with the same values and sense of achievement.
7. “Already know you that which you need.” – Yoda
You are already complete and you are enough as you are right now. Yes, it’s great to pursue goals and dream of a magnificent life, but remember, you already are everything you need.
8. “Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things.” – Yoda
People confuse happiness with things like excitement and thrills but these things don’t last forever and it’s easy for us to get attached to what we believe brings us happiness. Here lies the dangerous territory of the space between our last epic adventure and the next, wondering why we feel so empty inside.
9. “Not if anything to say about it I have.”
Yoda simply means, “Over my dead body” or as long as I have anything to say about this, you will not succeed!
10. “Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not.”
Don’t judge me by my size, appearance or from your limited perception. Just because something may seem insigificant from the outside, doesn’t mean it is inferior to you or anyone else. A common phrase that comes to mind is, “don’t judge a book by it’s cover.”
11. “The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see the future is.”
Basically saying the future is impossible to see from the dark side. Even the powers of a Jedi will struggle.
12. “Clear your mind must be, if you are to find the villains behind this plot.”
Don’t just assume who you think the villain is, clear your mind of thoughts and judgements to find the true culprit.
13. “Always two there are, no more, no less. A master and an apprentice.”
14. “Much to learn you still have…my old padawan. This is just the beginning!”
15. “Good relations with the Wookiees, I have.”
16. “Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.”
17. “Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will.”
18. “In the end, cowards are those who follow the dark side.”
19. “Mind what you have learned. Save you it can.”
20. “Your weapons, you will not need them.”
21. “To answer power with power, the Jedi way this is not.”
22. “In this war, a danger there is, of losing who we are.”
23. “You will find only what you bring in.”
24. “Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.”
25. “Around the survivors a perimeter create.”
26. “Soon will I rest, yes, forever sleep. Earned it I have. Twilight is upon me, soon night must fall.”
27. “At an end your rule is, and not short enough it was!”
28. “When you look at the dark side, careful you must be, for the dark side looks back.”
29. “You will know good from bad when you are at peace and passive.”
30. “Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”
31. “Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.”
32. “A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack.”
33. “You fail because you don’t believe.”
First you must believe. Believe it’s even possible and believe in yourself for you to fully succeed.
34. “If you end your training now, if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did, you will become an agent of evil.”
This one is deep and it took me a while to fully understand it. Here’s how I interpret it: When you’re on a path of mastery in anything, there are no shortcuts. It’s also important to remember why you even set out on this path. To serve yourself AND those around you. When you cut corners and try to find a quick and easy route, you stop learning your craft and you stop growing. You shift your attention on your own needs and stop serving others, which inevitably turns into a resentful or “evil” place of existence.
35. “A challenge lifelong it is, not to bend fear into anger.”
Many things in life can be challenging, but it is our job to accept this as a part of life. If every struggle turns into anger or frustration, we avert our attention from what needs to be done and shine our focus on the challenging aspects of the journey.
This was great! Thank you!