To understand oneself, one needs enormous pliability, and that pliability is denied when we specialize in devotion, in action, in knowledge. There are no paths such as devotion, as action, as knowledge, and he who follows any of these paths separately as a specialist brings about his own destruction. That is, a man who is committed to a particular path, to a particular approach, is incapable of pliability, and that which is not pliable is broken. As a tree that is not pliable breaks in the storm, so a man who has specialized breaks down in moments of crisis." - Meaning and context.">
"Seventh Talk in Poona, 10 October 1948", J.Krishnamurti Online, JKO Serial No. 481010; Vol. V, p. 128

To understand oneself, one needs enormous pliability, and that pliability is denied when we specialize in devotion, in action, in knowledge. There are no paths such as devotion, as action, as knowledge, and he who follows any of these paths separately as a specialist brings about his own destruction. That is, a man who is committed to a particular path, to a particular approach, is incapable of pliability, and that which is not pliable is broken. As a tree that is not pliable breaks in the storm, so a man who has specialized breaks down in moments of crisis.

— Jiddu Krishnamurti

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "To understand oneself, one needs enormous pliability, and that pliability is denied when we specialize in devotion, in action, in knowledge. There are no paths such as devotion, as action, as knowledge, and he who follows any of these paths separately as a specialist brings about his own destruction. That is, a man who is committed to a particular path, to a particular approach, is incapable of pliability, and that which is not pliable is broken. As a tree that is not pliable breaks in the storm, so a man who has specialized breaks down in moments of crisis." in the context of ""Seventh Talk in Poona, 10 October 1948", J.Krishnamurti Online, JKO Serial No. 481010; Vol. V, p. 128" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Jiddu Krishnamurti" (Quotes, Posthumous publications, The Collected Works: Published by Kendall/Hunt and Krishnamurti Foundation of America Vol. 3 (1936–1944) : The Mirror of Relationship (1991) Vol. 4 (1945–1948): The Observer Is the Observed (1991) Vol. 5 (1948–1949): Choiceless Awareness (1991) Vol. 6 (1949–1952): The Origin of Conflict (1991) Vol. 9 (1955–1956): The Answer is in the Problem (1991) Vol. 10 (1956–1957): A Light to Yourself (1991) Vol. 11 (1958–1960): Crisis in Consciousness (1991) Vol. 13 (1962–1963): A Psychological Revolution (1992) Vol. 14 (1963–1964): The New Mind (1992) Vol. 15 (1964–1965): The Dignity of Living (1992) ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Jiddu Krishnamurti

About Jiddu Krishnamurti

Jiddu Krishnamurti (11 May 1895 – 17 February 1986) was a spiritual teacher, public speaker, and writer, on psychological, sociological, and spiritual subjects.