Yoda was born in 896 BBY (before the Battle of Yavin) which was during the Great Peace of the Republic. He became a Jedi Master at 96 years old. He was only 66 cm tall but he was one of the most powerful Jedi Masters in galactic history. During the Clone Wars, he was already holding the title as the Grand Master which the title bestowed on the oldest and wisest of the Jedi Order. Yoda was 900 years old when he died. Concluded from his line in Return of the Jedi – “When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not.”
Anyway – here is my interpretation of life quotes from Master Yoda that I thought were quite ‘deep’
“No Jedi we are, but reflect and learn, we must” – Fida Ali. (Hah! Needed to slip one in, just for fun…)
From Revenge of the Sith
This quote is so true. You know when there are so many things going on sometimes, and you find you’re just struggling. But if you believe that everything happens as it should be, then everything will be ok. Just let it go – stop hanging to things that you cannot control…Believe that everything will fall into place as they should. Then you are ready to be challenged to your full potential.
Fear limits potential – Fida Ali (one more for fun)
“Fear is the path to the dark side…fear leads to anger…anger leads to hate…hate leads to suffering.”
From The Empire Strikes Back…
Fear is a big word – fear of failing, fear of losing someone, fear of making mistakes. It can be anything but one thing is true – it makes you cautious with your next steps/decisions, which is good thing. But it can also make you angry, over protective of your domain, cause you not trust others, make you seek options that can bring about pain to others and yourself and even those you wanted to protect in the first place.
"Do. Or do not.
There is no try.”
From The Empire Strikes Back
How many times have you heard people say – you need to be confident when presenting your case – you either do something or you don’t. The word ‘try’ implies the lack of self confidence. Many school of thoughts around this – but from working over 20 years in the corporate world – I can confidently say phrases like ‘I think’, ‘I’ll try’ etc etc – will not help your career progression.
From Attack of the Clones
Ok this quote is probably not relevant. I just wanted to slip in my daughter’s picture as the adorable young Padawan.
The Force is strong with this one…
From The Empire Strikes Back
This was Yoda’s answer to Luke when Luke asked “How he was to know the good side from the bad”. The Dark Side lured Anakin (Luke’s Father also Darth Vader in case you don’t know) using his fear of losing people he loved – which messed up all his emotions and clouded his mind with anger and hate. Anyway – the quote is saying – you can only make the right choices when your mind is clear from all the conflicts/emotions. True – which is why they say that when in anger, for example – walk away and calm down before making decisions or reacting to others. Check out my post on
"Luke: .. how am I to know the good side from the bad
Yoda: “You will know... when you are calm, at peace and passive.”
"Luke: I don't, I don't believe it
Yoda: That is why
you fail”
From The Empire Strikes Back
So true – if you start a journey not believing that you will be able to make it, then likely you won’t. It’s all in the mind. There is no guarantee of success, but if you don’t believe that you have what it takes to reach that goal, the chances of failure is higher.
So put your heart and mind to succeed in what you’re doing, or don’t bother.
From Revenge of the Sith (from Yoda to Anakin Skywalker)
This quote reminds me of a scene from the Lord of The Rings. Frodo was on Amon Hen, the Hill of Seeing and he puts on the ‘ring’. He was suddenly able to see Sauron’s armies gathering miles away. And then he became aware of Sauron’s roving Eye and Sauron in turn became aware of him. A bit too much? Ok – lets stick to Star Wars…
This quote basically is saying that when you are always looking at the negative side of things, the bad things in people, life etc, you can slip into that world, become ‘involved’ and get consumed by all that negativity.
From The Empire Strikes Back
If you want to gain new knowledge, you must clear your mind from biases or your own frame of references. If you don’t open your mind, you will not be able to absorb whatever teachings/lessons 100%.
If you are in the business of technical innovations – it helps if you can have a creative flow of thoughts without restrictions. Otherwise no one would have thought to create machines that fly etc. And there will be no wifi, or Skype or whatapp – oh my goodness – what kind of world would we live in? Can you imagine
Star Wars Rebels, Path of the Jedi
No one can or should choose for you, you need to make your own choices. Even following someone’s advice is also a choice.
“Named must be your fear before banish it you can.”
From Revenge of the Sith (Supplementary material – not film)
Sounds like something a psychiatrist would tell his or her patient. You have to acknowledge your fear, explicitly and then only you can deal with it.
From The Empire Strikes Back
This was Yoda’s response to Luke when Luke claimed he couldn’t levitate his X-Wing out of the bog because it was too big.
Basically – this is like saying that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I have been at the receiving end of that many times in the corporate world. Some people even say it to my face. One colleague once said to me, (and I don’t think she realised what she was saying, so I just shrugged it off) – that for someone of my race, I was actually quite smart. That doesn’t sound very great does it?
People make assumptions because of their beliefs, frame of references – someone who has tattoos all over is probably a thug. Someone who wears a suit all the time, very soft spoken can’t possibly be into heavy metal.
Check out this Coca-Cola video – about not judging people by how they look.
Star Wars fans of course need no convincing about ‘Yoda the Wise’. But I am sure the non-Star Wars fans now will be like ‘oh-wow – didn’t see that coming…’
Check out also my post on cool Star Wars gifts and collectibles here.
May the Force Be With You…