The importance of this book is that it was the first book on Sri Ramakrishna and his teachings written by a Western author of the eminence of Prof. Max Mueller, a contemporary and admirer of Sri Ramakrishna, a great lover of India and a renowned Orientologist.   The sayings were collected by the professor with the help of several of the Master's disciples including Vivekananda, and other contemporaries of Ramakrishna.