Summary
- Yoda’s wisdom transcends generations, teaching valuable life lessons through iconic quotes.
- His openness to new knowledge and deep insights made Yoda a powerful and revered Jedi Master.
- Yoda’s humorous yet profound teachings emphasize the importance of dedication, discipline, and inner strength.
Master Yoda was an endless fount of wisdom to his Jedi proteges in Star Wars, and he had no shortage of quotes distilling that wisdom. Ever since his introduction in The Empire Strikes Back, Yoda has been a symbol of the series, one of the most recognizable characters in all science fiction, and one of the strongest Jedi ever. Always ready to dish out insights into the Force to any other character who needed it (even if they didn’t always follow it), Yoda played his role as a teacher perfectly.
Some of his teachings were incredibly quotable, and Yoda’s unique speech pattern has elevated some of his wisdom from memorable to iconic. Though wise, he was not a perfect teacher, as one of Yoda’s students turned to the dark side. While it can be hard to narrow down the greatest of his sayings, here are 20 of Yoda’s best quotes, ones that have the most meaning to the story and provide the most guidance and truth outside the movies.
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25 “Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is.”
Star Wars: Epis ode II – Attack of the Clones
Part of what made Yoda so wise was that he never stopped searching for wisdom. In Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Yoda seeks a youngling’s help with finding Kamino. This proves that Yoda was always open to new knowledge, even from the most unlikely of places. It also showed that keeping an open mind can solve problems that seem to have no solution.
24 “Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Yoda gave this advice to Anakin in an attempt to keep him from the dark side. To the Jedi, attachment is a source of fear and can be dangerous for those who serve the light. This quote vocalizes the struggle brewing in Anakin in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. He was being pulled in two directions: between his dedication to the Order and his love for Padmé, but even Yoda’s guidance could not help him. This is a central theme to Yoda’s character: he had arguably the most influence out of any Jedi, but the circumstances he found himself in made him powerless.
23 “Looking? Found someone you have, I would say, hmmm?”
The Empire Strikes Back
Luke Skywalker failed to see that Yoda was right in front of him the whole time, something the Jedi Master joked about. Instead of asking who Luke is looking for, Yoda playfully notes that he’s technically found someone, even if it’s not what he expected. It’s a funny line but also a subtle foreshadowing of Yoda teaching Luke to think about things differently.
22 “When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not, hmm?”
Return of the Jedi
Just as Yoda used humor to hide his true nature when he first met Luke, he uses it again to lighten the mood during their last conversation. Yoda accepts that his time has come but knows how sad Luke is, so he jokes about being 900 years old. Like his first interaction with Luke, it’s a hilarious moment with a layer of wisdom, as Yoda reinforces that he has lived a long, full life. He spends his last moments with joy and purpose rather than succumbing to despair.
21 “To answer power with power, the Jedi way this is not. In this war, a danger there is of losing who we are.”
Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 1, episode 10 “Lair of Grievous”
The Jedi Grandmaster’s ability to consider the future was one of his greatest strengths, though it wasn’t strong enough. Yoda was right about the Order’s destiny to lose itself, but he was not able to change its fate. His quote is tragically ironic, as he saw the dangers the Clone Wars presented to the Order, yet he couldn’t avoid them.
20 “Victory? Victory, you say? Master Obi-Wan, not victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun the Clone War has.”
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
As the oldest and wisest Jedi, Yoda can easily spot truths that even the greatest masters will miss. When Obi-Wan calls the Battle of Geonosis a Republic victory, Yoda rightly points out that it’s a loss because the galaxy has gone to war. His delivery is perfect and illustrates the magnitude of how the Clone Wars will change the galaxy forever.
19 “Darker, the coming storm grows. I fear the dark cloud of the Sith shrouds us all.”
Star Wars: Clone Wars 2D Micro-Series – Volume 1
Building off his final line from Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Yoda senses Jedi being slaughtered by General Grievous and reflects on how the dark side has become more powerful. Yoda already knew that the galaxy had lost by going to war, so hearing him confirm how much worse it is raises the stakes for the conflict. Yoda warned that fear was the path to the dark side, making it unnerving when he admits he’s afraid.
18 “Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.”
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Yoda gave this bit of wisdom to Anakin as they discussed his premonitions of Padmé’s death. It was yet another lesson that Anakin refused to learn, which helped to seal his fate to become Darth Vader. This quote speaks to how quickly and easily a fall to the dark side could devolve. What started as Anakin fighting for his wife’s life was warped into his quest for power and a new empire to call his own. Yoda saw the writing on the wall early on, even if he was powerless to stop it.
17 “For my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us.”
The Empire Strikes Back
The Force was often a mysterious subject in Star Wars, but Yoda offered one of the first explanations of how all-encompassing it was in The Empire Strikes Back. It flowed through everything and everyone, and Yoda was keenly aware of how powerful the Force could be. His greatest strength was his connection to the Force, and he spent most of his time as a teacher trying to show his students the same.
16 “Twisted by the Dark Side, young Skywalker has become. The boy you trained, gone he is… Consumed by Darth Vader.”
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
Many things were not clear in the prequel trilogy, but Yoda always had a talent for seeing his situation for what it was. While Obi-Wan Kenobi was hesitant to fight his former Padawan, Yoda saw that Anakin was gone. He saw that the Order had already fallen and that the only hope they had was to even the odds for some future hero. This was also the moment when the remaining Jedi realized that they could not save Anakin and Yoda’s warnings about the future were proven right.
15 “In the end, cowards are those who follow the dark side.”
Star Wars: The Clone Wars season 1, episode 1 “Ambush”
Yoda knew how difficult it was to lead the life of a Jedi. Many challenges came with serving the light side of the Force, even before the Order’s fall. He also had a deep knowledge of the dark side of the Force and saw that the path to the dark side involved much less effort and difficulty. In Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Yoda was able to show the king of Toydaria how different the light and dark sides of the Force were. Where the dark side would use deceit and surprise, the Jedi would fight with honor and protect those who needed it.
14 “Always two there are. No more, no less. A master and an apprentice.”
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
It’s hard to believe the main antagonists of the Star Wars saga could be summed up so easily, but Yoda’s words do just that. He explains that the Sith always come in two, a master and an apprentice, which seems to make them similar to the Jedi. However, Yoda stresses that the Sith take this literally, implying that they don’t share power with anyone else. It’s a brilliant way to quickly explain the defining difference between the Jedi and the Sith, and Yoda’s style of speech makes this an iconic Star Wars quote.
13 “Your path, you must decide.”
Star Wars Rebels season 2, episode 18 “Shroud of Darkness”
Yoda seemingly had an answer to every question, but he also knew when to give answers and when to let his students find them on their own. In Star Wars: Rebels, Yoda trusted Ezra enough to let him decide how to take on his Jedi trials. He also gave Ezra the freedom to be whatever kind of Jedi he wished to be, both failing and succeeding on his own. This quote shows how experienced Yoda was with younger Jedi, and how much faith he put into the Force’s power to shape them into good people.
12 “The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see, the future is.”
Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones
Yoda gave an insight into how Palpatine was able to keep his plans secret from the Jedi. Palpatine was the most powerful Sith ever, and his control over the dark side helped him complete his plan to take over the galaxy. While much of this success was because of Palpatine, Yoda’s quote also showed another side to why the Order fell: the Jedi’s failure to anticipate the future.
11 “Pass on what you have learned.”
Return of the Jedi
Yoda originally gave Luke this advice in Return of the Jedi just before he became one with the Force. The quote received a new layer of depth to it when Yoda gives it to Luke again in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi. Knowledge and wisdom are good, but they are useless if they are not passed on. Yoda was a teacher, and he even had advice on how to teach.
10 “A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away…to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing.”
The Empire Strikes Back
Dedication and discipline were core tenets of the Jedi Code. Yoda saw in The Empire Strikes Back that Luke did not yet have those traits. He was too stubborn and eager to be a great Jedi at that time. This quote speaks to what Yoda was trying to tell Luke throughout the movie: that he was up against incredible odds, that the galaxy was counting on him, and that he had to stay focused.
9 “Alone, never have you been… Rise in the Force.”
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
This quote comes at the pivotal moment of the sequel trilogy, as Rey is fighting Palpatine in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Along with other notable Jedi of days past, Yoda lent his strength to Rey through the Force and gave her these words of encouragement. It showed how Rey was the culmination of the Skywalker saga, that every Jedi who came before her had always supported her, and that no Jedi was truly alone as long as they had the Force.
8 “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
Part of Yoda’s wisdom came from his ability to read people and see what was looming on the horizon. No other quote showed this skill as well as the one he said to a young Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace. Within moments of meeting Anakin and testing his connection to the Force, Yoda was able to foreshadow every step along the way on his fall to the dark side.
7 “If you end your training now — if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did — you will become an agent of evil.”
The Empire Strikes Back
Yoda showed that being a Jedi and serving the light was not an easy path to follow. The dark side of the Force was a much less taxing route to power. If Luke’s dedication and discipline were to slip, it would have been very easy to follow in his father’s footsteps. It also demonstrated how precarious Luke’s situation was, that he could lose everything with just one wrong choice.
6 “Decide you must, how to serve them best. If you leave now, help them you could; but you would destroy all for which they have fought, and suffered.”
The Empire Strikes Back
This quote came at a crucial moment in The Empire Strikes Back. Luke arrogantly abandoned his training on Dagobah against the advice of Yoda and Obi-Wan and ran directly into danger, losing an arm for his trouble. Yoda’s words cut through to young Luke’s impatience, but they were also eventually proven wrong. Luke defeated Darth Vader and the Emperor precisely because he cared about his friends and family.