“He who is an Āchārya has to know different things. One needs a sword and shield to kill others; but to kill oneself, a needle or a nail-knife suffices.”–Ramakrishna Paramahansa
The context for the below is that I am a 61-year-old bachelor, who has earned enough for retirement and did my bit of work to earn the financial freedom, and also my needs are very minimalist.
These days, when I tell people that I want to spend the rest of my life sitting quitely at home all by myself, they at once try to convince me as to how one should work for the Greater Good, and how the world has many problems that need solution, how people are wanting and thirsting for various kinds of help, etc. Then it takes a sword and shield to convince them as to why it makes sense to sit quietly at home doing nothing.
Of course, to have reached this place where one needs only “a needle or a nail-knife”, initially one had to employ “a sword and shield” to be able to overcome the various resistances and false understandings of one’s own self or ego.
Know Thyself 