"The statue is not going to say anything, is not going to criticize you, is not going to possess you. You possess the statue; you can sell it in the market. But that you cannot do with a human being. That is the problem.

"When you start relating with human beings, you have to take into consideration that they are not things, they are consciousnesses. You cannot dominate them – although almost everybody is trying to do that, and spoiling their whole life. The moment you try to dominate a human being, you are creating an enemy, because that human being also wants to dominate. You may call it love, you may call it friendship, but behind the curtain of friendship and love and brotherhood there is a deep will to power. You want to dominate; you don't want to be dominated.

"With human beings, you will be in constant conflict. The closer you are, the more the conflict will hurt you. There are thousands of people who have been so wounded by human relationship that they have dropped out of all human love, friendship. They have turned towards things. It is easier – the other party is always willing, whatsoever you want to do.

"You are an artist, you sculpt. But have you ever thought about what you are doing? You are cutting chunks of the marble – that you cannot do to a human being, but people are doing that to human beings too. Parents are cutting their children's wings, their freedom, their individuality. Lovers are cutting each other continuously.

"To be in love with a human being is not an easy affair. The love affair is the most difficult affair in the world for the simple reason that two consciousnesses, two alive beings, cannot tolerate any kind of slavery.

"When the parents say to their children 'Don't do this!' even the small child feels hurt, humiliated, insulted. And he's going to do it if he has any guts.

"Near the village where I was born, just ten miles away, every year there used to be a very big religious fair, by the side of the river Narmada. That is one of the sacred religious rivers in India."