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 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.

25 "Truly wonderful, the mind of a child is."

Star Wars: Episode 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 Pé, 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 its 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 Pé'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-encoming 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.