Ramakrishna's life embodied three central ideas that are becoming more and more known and accepted in our own time:
● The universality of religious truth. According to Arnold Toynbee, the English historian, “Sri Ramakrishna’s testimony to the harmony of religions can make it possible for the human race to grow together into a single family—and, in the Atomic Age, this is the only alternative to destroying ourselves.”
● The indwelling divinity in all human beings.
● The special divine nature of woman.

“The story of Ramakrishna is a story of religion in practice. His life enables us to see God face to face…. In this age of skepticism Ramakrishna presents an example of a bright and living faith which gives solace to thousands of men and women who would otherwise have remained without spiritual light.”                 -Mahatma Gandhi

At the beginning of Ramakrishna and Christ, The Supermystics Paul Hourihan expresses his own reaction: "Few every recover from the reflex of awe that fixates the mind upon studying Ramakrishna, India's nonpareil mystic. Skeptics aside, others, whether or not they become partisan, rarely recapture a sense of balance when appraising his life."

SRI Ramakrishna - his SAYINGS AND Teachings

Love of God
"If you must be mad, why should you be mad for the things of the world? Be mad for [the love of] God alone." (p. 449)

"The thing is that one must love God. Through intense love one attains the vision of Him. The attraction of the husband for the chaste wife, the attraction of the child for its mother, the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man―when a man can blend these three into one, and direct it all to God, then he gets the vision of God." (p. 375)

Truth is One
"Truth is one; only It is called by different names. All people are seeking the same Truth; the variance is due to climate, temperament, and name. A lake has many ghats*. From one ghat the Hindus take water in jars and call it 'jal'. From another ghat the Mussalmāns take water in leather bags and call it 'pāni'. From a third the Christians take the same thing and call it 'water'. Suppose someone says that the thing is not 'jal' but 'pāni', or that it is not 'pāni' but 'water', or that it is not 'water' but 'jal', It would indeed be ridiculous. But this very thing is at the root of the friction among sects, their misunderstandings and quarrels. This is why people injure and kill one another, and shed blood, in the name of religion. But this is not good. Everyone is going toward God. They will all realize Him if they have sincerity and longing of heart." (p. 423)

"God is one, but His names are many."  (112)

                                             - selections from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami Nikhilananda, 
                                                          (New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1985)

Q. If the God of every religion is the same, why is it then that the God is painted differently by different religionists?
A. God is one, but His aspects are different: as one master of the house is father to one, brother to another, and husband to a third, and is called by these different names by those different persons, so one God is described and called in various ways according to the particular aspect in which He appears to His particular worshipper.

"As one and the same material, viz. water, is called by different names by different people―one calling it 'water,' another 'vâri,' a third 'aqua,' and another 'pani'―so the one Sat-chit-ânanda, the Everlasting-Intelligent-Bliss, is invoked by some as God, by some as Allah, by some as Hari, and by others as Brahman."

"Many are the names of God, and infinite the forms that lead us to know Him. In whatsoever name or form you desire to call Him, in that very form and name you will see Him."

Master: "You were talking of worshipping the clay image. Even if the image is made of clay, there is need for that sort of worship. God Himself has provided different forms of worship. He who is the Lord of the Universe has arranged all these forms to suit different men in different stages of knowledge.

"The mother cooks different dishes to suit the stomachs of her different children. Suppose she has five children. If there is a fish to cook, she prepares various dishes from it — pilau, pickled fish, fried fish, and so on — to suit their different tastes and powers of digestion."
______________________

The Divine in Man
Man is like a pillow-case. The color of one may be red, another blue, another black, but all contain the same cotton So it is with man―one is beautiful, one is black, another is holy, a fourth wicked; but the Divine dwells in them all.

It is true that God is even in the tiger, but we must not go and face the animal. So it is true that God dwells even in the most wicked, but it is not meet that we should associate with the wicked.

As fishes playing in a pond covered over with reeds and scum cannot be seen from outside, so God plays in the heart of a man invisibly, being screened by Maya, from human view.

As a lamp does not burn without oil, so a man cannot live without God.

                    God is in all men but all men are not in God: that is the reason why they suffer.

                                                 - selections from Ramakrishna, His Life and Sayings, F. Max Müller

“All will surely realize God. All will be liberated. It may be that some get their meal in the morning, some at noon, and some in the evening; but none will go without food. All, without any exception, will certainly know their real Self.”

On Yogic Siddhis or Occult Powers

"People practise various Tantrik disciplines to acquire supernatural powers. How mean such people are! Krishna said to Arjuna, 'Friend, by acquiring one of the eight siddhis you may add a little to your power, but you will not be able to realize Me.'"

"One cannot get rid of maya as long as one exercises supernatural powers. And maya begets egotism. Body and wealth are impermanent. Why go to so much trouble for their sakes?"

"Just think of the plight of the hathayogis. Their attention is fixed on one ideal only—longevity. They do not aim at the realization of God at all. They practise such exercises as washing out the intestines, drinking milk through a tube, and the like, with that one aim in view."

"There was once a goldsmith whose tongue suddenly turned up and stuck to his palate. He looked like a man in samadhi. He became completely inert and remained so a long time. People came to worship him. After several years, his tongue suddenly returned to its natural position, and he became conscious of things as before. So he went back to his work as a goldsmith." (All laugh.)

"These are physical things and have nothing to do with God. There was a man who knew eighty-two postures and talked big about yoga-samadhi. But inwardly he was drawn to 'woman and gold'. Once he found a bank-note worth several thousand rupees. He could not resist the temptation, and swallowed it, thinking he would get it out somehow later on. The note was got out of him all right, but he was sent to jail for three years. In my guilelessness I used to think that the man had made great spiritual progress. Really, I say it upon my word!"

                                            - selections from The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, trans. Swami Nikhilananda, 
                                              (New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1985)

For more information on Ramakrishna: 
● Wikipedia
● Ramakrishna Math and Mission and Belur Math Headquarters
● Vedanta Society of Southern California

See also:  Ramakrishna and Christ, The Supermystics by Paul Hourihan

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Note: All "Words of Wisdom" are quotations from Paul Hourihan, unless otherwise noted.