List of Swami Vivekananda Quotes in English
“Bear in mind, my children, that only cowards and those who are weak commit sin and tell lies. The brave are always moral. Try to be moral, try to be brave, try to be sympathising.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Be strong, my young friends; that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita. These are bold words; but I have to say them, for I love you. I know where the shoe pinches.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Neither money pays, nor name pays, nor fame, nor learning; it is CHARACTER that cleave through adamantine walls of difference.” – Swami Vivekananda
“It is the greatest manifestation of power to be calm.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The happiest is the man who is not at all selfish.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The difference between architecture and building is that the former expresses an idea, while the latter is merely a structure built on economical principles. The value of matter depends solely on its capacities of expressing ideas.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The fire that warms us can also consume us; it is not the fault of the fire.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Take up an idea, devote yourself to it, struggle on in patience, and the sun will rise for you.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Believe in yourself and the world will be at your feet.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Be an atheist if you want, but do not believe in anything unquestioningly.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Whatever you think that you will be. If you think yourself weak, weak you will be; if you think yourself strong, you will be.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The Older I grow, the more everything seems to me to lie in manliness. This is my new gospel.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All misery and pain come from attachment.” – Swami Vivekananda
“What do we call the river? Every moment the water is changing, the shore is changing, every moment the environment is changing, what is the river then? It is the name of this series of changes.” – Swami Vivekananda
“It is clear to us that, for good or for evil, our vitality is concentrated in our religion. You cannot change it. You cannot destroy it and put in its place another.” – Swami Vivekananda
“External nature is only internal nature writ large.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Spirituality is the science of the Soul.” – Swami Vivekananda
“God is not to be reached by the weak. Never be weak. You have infinite strength within you. How else will you conquer anything? How else will you come to God?”
“Each work has to pass through these stages: ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. Those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Each soul is potentially divine.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Only by practice and non-attachment can we conquer mind.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Meditation is a sort of prayer and prayer is meditation. The highest meditation is to think of nothing. If you can remain one moment without thought, great power will come.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Don’t look back – forward, infinite energy, infinite enthusiasm, infinite daring,and infinite patience – then alone can great deeds be accomplished”
“Even the greatest fool can accomplish a task if it were after his or her heart. But the intelligent ones are those who can convert every work into one that suits their taste.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Know that every time you feel weak, you not only hurt yourself but also the cause. Infinite faith and strength are the only conditions of success.” – Swami Vivekananda
“An atheist can be charitable but not religious. But the religious man must be charitable.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We have to practice to become perfect.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All these ideas such as astrology, although there may be a grain of truth in them, should be avoided.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We are what our thoughts have made us.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If you want to have life, you have to die every moment for it. Life and death are only different expressions of the same thing looked at from different standpoints; they are the falling and the rising of the same wave, and the two form one whole.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The powers of the mind are like the rays of the sun when they are concentrated they illumine.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas, nor the Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonizing the Vedas, the Bible, and the Koran.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Never are we nearer the Light than when the darkness is deepest.” – Swami Vivekananda
“What makes you weep, my friend? In you is all power. Summon up your all-powerful nature, O mighty one, and this whole universe will lie at your feet. It is the Self alone that predominates, and not matter.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Body is an unreal dream, and we think we are all bodies.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Don’t you find that in a weak physique it is difficult to control the sex – appetite or anger?”
“Our first duty is not to hate ourselves, because to advance we must have faith in ourselves first and then in God. Those who have no faith in themselves can never have faith in God.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The greatest truths are the simplest things in the world, simple as your own existence.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The seeker’s silence is the loudest form of prayer.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The benefits of knowledge can only be realized in practice.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Be not Afraid of anything. You will do Marvelous work. it is Fearlessness that brings Heaven even in a moment.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Bless people when they revile you. Think how much good they are doing by helping to stamp out the false ego.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Cowards only sin, brave men never, no, not even in mind.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All the strength and succour you want is within yourselves. Therefore make your own future. “Let the dead past bury its dead.” – Swami Vivekananda The infinite future is before you.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Man can become like God and acquire control over the whole universe if he multiplies infinitely his centre of self-consciousness.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The best guide in life is strength.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Neither seek nor avoid, take what comes.” – Swami Vivekananda
“So long as there is desire or want, it is a sure sign that there is imperfection. A perfect, free being cannot have any desire.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Come out into the Universe of Light. Everything in the Universe is Yours, stretch out your arms and Embrace it with Love.” – Swami Vivekananda
“A Brahmin is not so much in need of education as a Chandala. If the son of a Brahmin needs one teacher, that of a Chandala needs ten.” – Swami Vivekananda
“This is the central idea of the Gita- to be calm and steadfast in all circumstances, with one’s body, mind, and soul centered at His hallowed feet!”
“Have faith in yourselves, great convictions are the mother of great deeds.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Out of purity and silence comes the word of power.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The greatest sin is to think that you are weak. No one is greater: realize that you are Brahman. Nothing has power except what you give it.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Not believing in the glory of our own soul is what the Vedanta calls atheism.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Never turn back to see the result of what you have done. Give all to the Lord and go on, and think not of it.” – Swami Vivekananda
“They alone live, who live for others.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Do you think these sannyasi children of Sri Ramakrishna are born to simply to sit under trees lighting dhuni-fires? Whenever any of them will take up some work, people will be astonished to see their energy. Learn from them how to work.” – Swami Vivekananda
“No better commentary on the Vedas has been written or can be written.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We never change, we never die, and we are never born.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Immediately you will be perfect, you will become God.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Everything is ended if you forgive and forget.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Truth, purity, and unselfishness wherever these are present, there is no power below or above the sun to crush the possessor thereof. Equipped with these, one individual is able to face the whole universe in opposition.” – Swami Vivekananda
“It may be that I shall find it good to get outside of my body – to cast it off like a disused garment. But I shall not cease to work! I shall inspire men everywhere, until the world shall know that it is one with God.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I pity the Hindu who does not see the beauty in Jesus Christ’s character. I pity the Christian who does not reverence the Hindu Christ.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Motion is the sign of life.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The whole point is to discipline the mind.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Work unto death! I am with you, and when I am gone, my spirit will work with you. This life comes and goes; wealth, fame, enjoyments are only of a few days. It is better, far better to die on the field of duty, preaching the truth, than to die like a worldly worm. Advance!”
“All powers are within you, you can do anything and everything.” – Swami Vivekananda
“You can not believe in God until you believe in yourself.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Astrology and all these mystical things are generally signs of a weak mind; therefore as soon as they are becoming prominent in our minds, we should see a physician, take good food, and rest.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Comfort is no test of truth. Truth is often far from being comfortable.” – Swami Vivekananda
“True religion comes not front the teaching of men or the reading of books; it is the awakening of the spirit within us, consequent upon pure and heroic action.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Good and evil thoughts are each a potent power, and they fill the universe.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Astrology and all these mystical things are generally signs of a weak mind.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The three essentials of Hinduism are belief in God, in the Vedas as revelation, in the doctrine of Karma and transmigration.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We must plunge heart and soul and body into the work. And until we are ready to sacrifice everything else to one Idea and to one alone, we never, never will see the Light.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Man is to become divine by realizing the divine. Idols or temples, or churches or books, are only the supports, the help of his spiritual childhood.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Cut the bondage of all worldly affections; go beyond laziness and all care as to what becomes of you.” – Swami Vivekananda
“By doing well the duty which is nearest to us, the duty which is in our hands now, we make ourselves stronger; and improving our strength in this manner step by step, we may reach a state in which it shall be our privilege to do the most coveted and honored duties in life and in society.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All truth is eternal. Truth is nobody’s property; no race, no individual can lay any exclusive claim to it. Truth is the nature of all souls.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Freedom can never be reached by the weak. Throw away all weakness. Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Give me few men and women who are pure and selfless and I shall shake the world.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Unselfishness is more paying, only people have not the patience to practice it.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Let the mind be cheerful but calm. Never let it run into excesses, because every excess will be followed by a reaction.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I am neither the mind, nor the intellect, nor the ego, nor the mind-stuff.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves.” – Swami Vivekananda
“This is the principle of Universal Brotherhood of man with one another, with all life down to the little ants.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Music is the highest art and to those who understand, is the highest worship.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Proselytism is tolerated by Hinduism. Any man, whether he be a Shudra or Chandala, can expound philosophy even to a Brahmin. The truth can be learnt from the lowest individual, no matter to what caste or creed he belongs.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Knowledge can only be got in one way, the way of experience; there is no other way to know.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The power is with the silent ones, who only live and love and then withdraw their personality. They never say “me” and “mine”; they are only blessed in being instruments.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The brain and muscles must develop simultaneously. Iron nerves with an intelligent brain – and the whole world is at your feet.” – Swami Vivekananda
“As thou thinkest, so art thou.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Experience is the only teacher we have. We may talk and reason all our lives, but we shall not understand a word of truth until we experience it ourselves.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I am a socialist not because I think it is a perfect system, but half a loaf is better than no bread. The other system has been tried and found wanting.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I am neither man nor angel. I have no sex nor limit. I am knowledge itself. I am He. I have neither anger nor hatred. I have neither pain nor pleasure. Death or birth I never had. For I am Knowledge Absolute, and Bliss Absolute. I am He, my soul, I am He!”
“The more opposition there is, the better. Does a river acquire velocity unless there is resistance? The newer and better a thing is, the more opposition I will meet with at the outset. It is opposition which foretells success. Where there is no opposition there is no success either.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Buddha taught kindness towards lower beings; and since then there has not been a sect in India that has not taught charity to all beings, even to animals. This kindness, this mercy, this charity – greater than any doctrine – are what Buddhism left to us.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Everything will come right if you are pure and sincere. We want hundreds like you bursting upon society and bringing new life and vigor of the spirit wherever they go.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Have charity towards all beings. Pity those who are in distress. Love all creatures. Do not be jealous of anyone. Look not to the faults of others.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Everything is easy when you are busy. But nothing is easy when you are lazy.” – Swami Vivekananda
“It is impossible to think about the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is impossible for a bird to fly on only one wing.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Bless people when they revile you. Think how much good they are doing by helping to stamp out the false ego. Hold fast to the real Self. Think only pure thoughts, and you will accomplish more than a regiment of mere preachers. Out of purity and silence comes the word of power.” – Swami Vivekananda
“He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God.” – Swami Vivekananda
“He who struggles is better than he who never attempts.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Infinite power of the spirit, brought to bear upon matter evolves material development, made to act upon thought evolves intellectuality, and made to act upon itself makes of man a God. First, let us be Gods, and then help other to be GOds. Be and Make. Let this be our motto.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Whenever we attain a higher vision, the lower vision disappears of itself.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The mistake is that we cling to the body when it is the spirit that is really immortal.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We are the sons of Light and children of God. Glory unto the Lord, we will succeed.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Gita and Ganga constitute the essence of Hinduism; one its theory and the other its practice.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The greatest force is derived from the power of thought. The finer the element, the more powerful it is. The silent power of thought influences people even at a distance, because mind is one as well as many. The universe is a cobweb; minds are spiders.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Man makes the mistake of separating himself from God and identifying himself with the body.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If money help a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The attempt to remove evil from the world by killing a thousand evil – doers, only adds to the evil in the world.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Calm and silent and steady work, and no newspaper humbug, no name-making, you must always remember.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The past was great no doubt, but I sincerely believe that the future will be more glorious still.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Be proud that thou art an Indian, and proudly proclaim, “I am an Indian, every Indian is my brother.” – Swami Vivekananda Say, “The ignorant Indian, the poor and destitute Indian, the Brahmin Indian, the Pariah Indian, is my brother.” – Swami Vivekananda”
“Feel, my children, feel; feel for the poor, the ignorant, the downtrodden; feel till the heart stops and the brain reels and you think you will go mad; then pour the soul out at the feet of the Lord, and then will come power, help and indomitable energy.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Let us work without desire for name or fame or rule over others. Let us be free from the triple bonds of lust, greed of gain, and anger. And this truth is with us!”
“Perfect sincerity, holiness, gigantic intellect, and all-conquering will. Let only a handful of men work with these, and the whole world will be revolutionized.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Soft-brained people, weak-minded, chicken-hearted, cannot find the truth. One has to be free, and as broad as the sky.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Stand in that reverent attitude to the whole universe, and then will come perfect non attachment.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I ask you all so earnestly to open girl’s schools in every village and try to uplift them. If the Conditions of women are raised, then their children will, by their noble actions, glorify the name of the Country.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Do not wait for anybody or anything. Do whatever you can. Build your hope on none.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If a thing happens once, it can happen again. If any human being has ever realised perfection, we too can do so. If we cannot become perfect here and now, we never can in any state or heaven or condition we may imagine.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The Vedanta teaches men to have faith in themselves first.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Stand up and be strong! No fear. No superstition. Face the truth as it is!”
“No more materialism, no more this egoism, I must become spiritual.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Ignorance is death, Knowledge is life.” – Swami Vivekananda
“No one is to blame for our miseries but ourselves.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Change is always in regard to something which does not change, or which changes relatively less.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The organs are the horses, the mind is the rein, the intellect is the charioteer, the soul is the rider, and the body is the chariot.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The power of concentration is the only key to the treasure-house of knowledge.” – Swami Vivekananda
“So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All the powers in the universe are already ours.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The mind has to be gradually and systematically brought under control.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Religion in India culminates in freedom.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I hate cowardice; I will have nothing to do with cowards or political nonsense.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The secret of karma yoga which is to perform actions without any fruitive desires is taught by Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Pay no attention whatsoever to newspaper nonsense or criticism. Be sincere and do your duty. Everything will come all right. Truth must triumph.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Remember the only sign of life is motion and growth.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The test of Ahimsa is absence of jealousy.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Purity, perseverance, and energy – these three I want.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Marriage is not for individual happiness, but for the welfare of the nation and the caste.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The calm man is not the man who is dull. You must not mistake Sattva for dullness or laziness. The calm man is the one who has control over the mind waves. Activity is the manifestation of inferior strength, calmness, of the superior.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Mind you, there is no value in learning. You are all mistaken in learning. The only value of knowledge is in the strengthening, the disciplining, of the mind.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The “ego” like its correlative “non-ego”, is the product of the body, mind etc. The only proof of the existence of the real Self is realisation.” – Swami Vivekananda
“You see, no one can teach anybody. The teacher spoils everything by thinking that he is teaching. Thus Vedanta says that within man is all knowledge-even in a boy it is so-and it requires only an awakening, and that much is the work of a teacher.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Work on with the intrepidity of a lion but at the same time with the tenderness of a flower.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Infinite perfection is in every man, though unmanifested.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Have faith in Guru, in his teachings, and in the surety that you can get free. Think day and night that this universe is zero, only God is. Have intense desire to get free.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We become forgetful of the ego when we think of the body as dedicated to the service of others – the body with which most complacently we identify the ego.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If there is one word that you find coming out like a bomb from the Upanishads, bursting like a bombshell upon masses of ignorance, it is the word “fearlessness.” – Swami Vivekananda”
“Be not in despair, the way is very difficult, like walking on the edge of a razor; yet despair not, arise, awake, and find the ideal, the goal.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Hindu Dharma is the quintessence of our national life, hold fast to it if you want your country to survive, or else you would be wiped out in three generations.” – Swami Vivekananda
“High achievements in art, music, etc., are the results of concentration.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Say – i am the Atman in which my lower ego has become merged for ever. Be perfect in this idea; and then as long as the body endures, speak unto others this message of fearlessness: “Thou art That”, “Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached!””
“Bold words and bolder deeds are what we want. Awake, awake, great ones! The world is burning with misery. Can you sleep?”
“May the shadow of the Almighty ever rest on all those you love.” – Swami Vivekananda
“This, I have seen in life – those who are overcautious about themselves fall into dangers at every step. Those who are afraid of losing honor and respect, get only disgrace; and those who are always afraid of loss, always lose.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Truth does not pay homage to any society, ancient or modern. Society has to pay homage to Truth or die.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you, but do not think of that now.” – Swami Vivekananda
“So long as you have faith in your Guru, nothing will be able to obstruct your way.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Fill the brain with high thoughts, highest ideals, place them day and night before you, and out of that will come great work.” – Swami Vivekananda
“To work with undaunted energy! What fear! Who is powerful enough to thwart you.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Even our smallest attempts are not in vain. We know that nothing is lost.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Our Soul is a spark of the Divine. It is pure and perfect. Evil deeds merely obstruct our vision of the true nature of our Soul. Through good deeds we can become conscious of this perfection again.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We may convert every house in the country into a charity asylum, we may fill the land with hospitals, but the misery of man will still continue to exist until man’s character changes.” – Swami Vivekananda
“There is nothing so high as renunciation of self.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Unselfishness is God. One may live on a throne, in a golden palace, and be perfectly unselfish; and then he is in God. Another may live in a hut and wear rags, and have nothing in the world; yet, if he is selfish, he is intensely merged in the world.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Where can we go to find God if we cannot see Him in our own hearts and in every living being.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Build up your health. Do not dwell in silence upon your sorrows.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If you want to live, go back to Christ. You are not Christians. Go back to Christ. Go back to him who had nowhere to lay his head. Better be ready to live in rags with Christ than to live in palaces without him.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I am the thread that runs through all these pearls, and each pearl is a religion or even a sect thereof. Such are the different pearls, and God is the thread that runs through all of them; most people, however, are entirely unconscious of it.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Strength and manliness are virtue; weakness and cowardice are sin.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All growth, progress, well – being, or degradation is but relative.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Man is guided by the stomach. He walks and the stomach goes first and the head afterwards. Have you not seen that? It will take ages for the head to go first.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The will is stronger than anything else. Everything must go down before the will, for it comes from God. A pure and strong will is omnipotent.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Man is born to conquer nature and not to follow it.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Go on bravely. Do not expect success in a day or a year. Always hold on to the highest. Be steady. Avoid jealousy and selfishness. Be obedient and eternally faithful to the cause of truth, humanity, and your country, and you will move the world.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Books are infinite in number and time is short. The secret of knowledge is to take what is essential. Take that and try to live up to it.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Every one wants to command, and no one wants to obey; and this is owing to the absence of that wonderful brahmacharya system of yore. First, learn to obey. The command will come by itself. Always first learn to be a servant, and then you will be fit to be a master.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Shri Ramakrishna use to say, “As Long as I Live, so long do I learn”. That man or that society which has nothing to learn is already in the jaws of death.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Science, art, learning and metaphysical research all have their proper functions in life, but if you seek to blend them, you destroy their individual characteristics until, in time, you eliminate the spiritual, for instance, from the religious altogether.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Meditate upon the Om that is in the heart.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The ideal of womanhood in India is motherhood – that marvellous, unselfish, all – suffering, ever – forgiving mother.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Through faithful practice, layer after layer of the mind opens before us, and each reveals new facts to us.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Never mind these failures, these little backslidings; hold the ideal a thousand times, and if you fail a thousand times, make the attempt once more.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Hindus believe Buddha to be an Avatara.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Stand upon the Atman, then only can we truly love the world. Take a very, very high stand; knowing our universal nature, we must look with perfect calmness upon all the panorama of the world.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Do not figure out big plans at first, but, begin slowly, feel your ground and proceed up and up.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Neither seek nor avoid; take what comes. It is liberty to be affected by nothing. Do not merely endure; be unattached.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I am teaching you now about it, but how many of you will practice it?”
“I want each one of my children to be a hundred times greater than I could ever be. Everyone of you must be a giant- must, that is my word. Obedience, readiness, and love for the cause- if you have these three, nothing can hold you back.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Put God behind everything-human beings, animals, food, and work. Make this a habit.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Be not afraid, for all great power throughout the history of humanity has been with the people. From out of their ranks have come all the greatest geniuses of the world, and history can only repeat itself. Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvellous work.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Body is the name of a series of changes.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Please everyone without becoming a hypocrite or a coward.” – Swami Vivekananda
“As long as we require someone else to make us happy, we are slaves.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Art is – representing the beautiful. There must be Art in everything.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Above all, India is the land of religion.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Dare to be free, dare to go as far as your thought leads, and dare to carry that out in your life. ”
“The meditative state is the highest state of existence. So long as there is desire, no real happiness can come. It is only the contemplative, witness-like study of objects that brings to us real enjoyment and happiness.” – Swami Vivekananda
“That man has reached immortality who is disturbed by nothing material.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Through practice comes Yoga, through Yoga comes knowledge, through knowledge love, and through love bliss.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Shri Krishna says: “Better die in your own path than attempt the path of another.” – Swami Vivekananda”
“Education is the manifestation of perfection already existing in man.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Let the end and the means be joined into one.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I hate this world, this dream, this horrible nightmare, with its churches and chicaneries, its books and blackguardisms, its fair faces and false hearts, its howling righteousness on the surface and utter hollowness beneath and, above all, its sanctified shopkeeping!”
“All who have actually attained any real religious experience never wrangle over the form in which the different religions are expressed. They know that the soul of all religions is the same and so they have no quarrel with anybody just because he or she does not speak in the same tongue.” – Swami Vivekananda
“According to the Hindu way of thinking, marriage is rather a duty than a privilege.” – Swami Vivekananda
“An intellectual, heartless man never becomes an inspired man. It is always the heart that speaks in the man of love; it discovers a greater instrument than intellect can give you, the instrument of inspiration.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The one theme of the Vedanta philosophy is the search after unity. The Hindu mind does not care for the particular; it is always after the general, nay, the universal. “what is it that by knowing which everything else is to be known.” – Swami Vivekananda That is the one search.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Was there ever a more horrible blasphemy than the statement that all the knowledge of God is confined to this or that book? How dare men call God infinite, and yet try to compress Him within the covers of a little book!”
“Thoughts are living things – they travel far.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Service to man is service to god.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If you have infinite patience and perseverance, success is bound to come. No mistake in that.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Music alone can take you to the Highest!”
“We have wept enough. No more weeping, but stand on feet and be men.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Have faith in yourself, all power is in you, be conscious and bring it out.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Do one thing at a time, and while doing it put your whole soul into it to the exclusion of all else.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Siva, O Siva, carry my boat to the other shore!”
“Why are people so afraid? The answer is that they have made themselves helpless and dependent on others. We are so lazy, we do not want to do anything ourselves. We want a Personal God, a Savior or a Prophet to do everything for us.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Everything has a cause.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Anything that brings spiritual, mental, or physical weakness, touch it not with the toes of your feet.” – Swami Vivekananda
“No one is ever really taught by another; each of us has to teach himself. The external teacher offers only the suggestion, which arouses the internal teacher, who helps us to understand things.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Whatever you think, that you will be.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Om is the greatest, meaning the Absolute.” – Swami Vivekananda
“A brave, frank, clean-hearted, courageous and aspiring youth is the only foundation on which the future nation can be built.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I, for one, thoroughly believe that no power in the universe can withhold from anyone anything they really deserve.” – Swami Vivekananda
“It is the duty of all to support and side with Dharma. All must fight and support Dharma regardless of their personality, background, status.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Strength, strength it is that we want so much in this life, for what we call sin and sorrow have all one cause, and that is our weakness. With weakness comes ignorance, and with ignorance comes misery.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Nature grinds all of us. Keep count of the ounce of pleasure you get. In the long run, nature did her work through you, and when you die your body will make other plants grow. Yet we think all the time that we are getting pleasure ourselves. Thus the wheel goes round.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Help and not fight. Assimilation and not destruction. Harmony and Peace and not dissension.” – Swami Vivekananda
“God is cruel and not cruel. He is all being and not being at the same time. Hence He is all contradictions. Nature also is nothing but a mass of contradictions.” – Swami Vivekananda
“A sapling must be hedged about for protection, but when it becomes a tree, a hedge would be a hindrance. So there is no need to criticise and condemn the old forms.” – Swami Vivekananda
“No negative, all positive, affirmative. I am, God is, everything is in me. I will manifest health, purity, knowledge, whatever I want.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Charity opens the heart.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Self-love is the first teacher of self-renunciation.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Each soul is a star and all stars are set in the infinite azure, the eternal sky-the Lord.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Expansion is life. Love is expansion. Love is therefore the only law of life.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Even the minds of animals, such as dogs, lions, cats, and serpents, become charmed with music.” – Swami Vivekananda
“He is an atheist who does not believe in himself. The old religions said that he was an atheist who did not believe in God. The new religion says that he is an atheist who does not believe in himself.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The cause of today is the effect of the past and the cause for the future.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Think of a space in your heart, and in the midst of that space think that a flame is burning. Think of that a flame is burning. Think of that flame as your own soul and inside the flame is another effulgent light, and that is the Soul of your soul, God. Meditate upon that in the heart.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Neither seek nor avoid, take what comes.” – Swami Vivekananda
“As soon as we react, we become slaves. A man blames me, and I immediately react in the form of anger. A little vibration which he created made me a slave.” – Swami Vivekananda
“One may gain political and social independence, but if one is a slave to his passions and desires, one cannot feel the pure joy of real freedom.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The Absolute God of the universe, the creator, preserver, and destroyer of the universe, is impersonal principle.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Liberty in thought and action is the only condition of life, growth and well-being: Where it does not exist, the man, the race, and the nation must go down.” – Swami Vivekananda
“See Christ, then you are a Christian; all else is talk.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We cannot see outside what we are not inside. The universe is to us what the huge engine is to the miniature engine; and indication of any error in the tiny engine leads us to imagine trouble in the huge one.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Christ, Buddha, and Krishna are but waves in the Ocean of Infinite Consciousness that I am!”
“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Prana is the driving power of the world, and can be seen in every manifestation of life.” – Swami Vivekananda
“He who is alone is happy. Do good to all, like everyone, but do not love anyone. It is a bondage, and bondage brings only misery. Live alone in your mind – that is happiness. To have nobody to care for and never minding who cares for one is the way to be free.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Whatever you are doing, put your whole mind on it. If you are shooting, your mind should be only on the target. Then you will never miss. If you are learning your lessons, think only of the lesson. In India boys and girls are taught to do this.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Do not believe a thing because you have read about it in a book. Do not believe a thing because another man has said it was true. Do not believe in words because they are hallowed by tradition. Find out the truth for yourself. Reason it out. That is realization.” – Swami Vivekananda
“You must keep a strict eye on your health; let everything else be subordinated to that.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Jnana, bhakti, yoga and karma – these are the four paths which lead to spiritual freedom. One must follow the path for which one is best suited. But in this age, special stress should be laid on karma yoga.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Internal and external nature, mind and matter, are in time and space, and are bound by the law of causation.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Ishvara is the highest manifestation of the Absolute Reality, or in other words, the highest possible reading of the Absolute by the human mind. Creation is eternal, and so also is Ishvara.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Knowledge of the Absolute depends upon no book, nor upon anything; it is absolute in itself. No amount of study will give this knowledge; is not theory, it is realization. Cleanse the dust from the mirror, purify your own mind, and in a flash you know that you are Brahman.” – Swami Vivekananda
“You may meditate on whatever you like, but I shall meditate on the heart of a lion. That gives strength.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The chief helps in this liberation are Abhyasa and Vairagya. Vairagya is non – attachment to life, because it is the will to enjoy that brings all this bondage in its train; and Abhyasa is constant practice of any one of the Yogas.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The Kingdom of Heaven is within us. God is within us. He is the Soul of our souls. See Him in your own soul. That is practical religion. That is freedom.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Never forget that a man is made great and perfect as much by his faults as by his virtues. So we must not seek to rob a nation of its character, even if it could be proved that the character was all faults.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Friends or foes, they are all instruments in Her hands to help us work out our own karma, through pleasure or pain. As such, ‘Mother’ bless all.” – Swami Vivekananda
“You yourselves are the Being you are seeking.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The infinite library of the Universe is in your mind.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The more we grow in Love, Virtue and Holiness, the more we see Love, Virtue and Holiness outside.” – Swami Vivekananda
“This life is a hard fact; work your way through it boldly, though it may be adamantine; no matter, the soul is stronger.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Marriage and sex and money the only living devils.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Advaita is the only system that gives us complete control over ourselves, takes off all dependence and its associated superstitions, thus making us brave to suffer, brave to do, and in the long run, attain to absolute freedom.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Desire, ignorance, and inequality – this is the trinity of bondage.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All the forces that are working in this body have been produced out of food; we see that every day.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I am a Hindu, I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true.” – Swami Vivekananda
“TO worship God even for the sake of salvation or any other reward is equally degenerate. Love knows no reward. Give your love unto to God, but do not ask anything in return even from Him through pray.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Real freedom is not merely doing what you like, but also NOT doing what you like.” – Swami Vivekananda
“May blessings and happiness attend every step of your progress in this world.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Do not lower your goals to the level of your abilities. Instead, raise your abilities to the height of your goals.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Many a time comes when we want to interpret our weakness and cowardice as forgiveness and renunciation.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Excessive attention to the minutiae of astrology is one of the superstitions which has hurt the Hindus very much.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Be brave! Be strong! Be fearless! Once you have taken up the spiritual life, fight as long as there is any life in you. Even though you know you are going to be killed, fight till you “are killed.” – Swami Vivekananda Don’t die of fright. Die fighting. Don’t go down till you are knocked down.” – Swami Vivekananda
“There is no good in store so long as malice and jealousy and egotism will prevail.” – Swami Vivekananda
“As soon as extreme attachment comes, a man loses himself, he is no more master of himself, he is a slave.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We have lost faith in ourselves. Therefore to preach the Advaita aspect of the Vedanta is necessary to rouse up the hearts of men, to show them the glory of their souls. It is therefore that I preach this Advaita, and I do so not as a sectarian, but upon universal and widely acceptable grounds.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The Vedas teach that the soul is divine, only held in the bondage of matter; perfection will be reached when this bond will burst, and the word they use for it is, therefore, Mukti – freedom, freedom from the bonds of imperfection, freedom from death and misery.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The greatest sin is to think yourself weak.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Be grateful that the poor man is there, so that by making a gift to him you are able to help yourself.” – Swami Vivekananda
“You must be fearless. It is the coward who fears and defends himself.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The greatest help to spiritual life is meditation. In meditation we divest ourselves of all material condition and feel our divine nature.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We want the education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one’s own feet.” – Swami Vivekananda
“To be good and to do good-that is the whole of religion.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Now is wanted intense Karma-Yoga with unbounded courage and indomitable strength in the heart. Then only will the people of the country be roused.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If the mind is intensely eager, everything can be accomplished – mountains can be crumbled into atoms.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Cowards never win victories. We have to fight fear and troubles and ignorance if we expect them to flee before us.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, and live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success that is way great spiritual giants are produced.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Perfection does not come from belief or faith. Talk does not count for anything. Parrots can do that. Perfection comes through the disinterested performance of action.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Perfection is not to be attained, it is already within us.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Every attempt to solve the laws of causation, time, and space would be futile, because the very attempt would have to be made by taking for granted the existence of these three.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Thinking of objects, attachment to them is formed in a man. From attachment longing, and from longing anger grows.” – Swami Vivekananda
“It is the calm, forgiving, equable, well-balanced mind that does the greatest amount of work.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The disciple must have great power of endurance. Bear all evil and misery without one thought of unhappiness, resistance, remedy, or retaliation. That is true endurance, and that you must acquire.” – Swami Vivekananda
“When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Everything that has form, everything that is the result of combination, is evolved out of this Akasha.” – Swami Vivekananda
“In a day when you don’t come across any problems, you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Things do not grow better; they remain as they are. It is we who grow better, by the changes we make in ourselves.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Whatever others think or do, lower not your standard of purity, morality and love of God.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Sincerity of conviction and purity of motive will surely gain the day; and even a small minority, armed with these, is surely destined to prevail against all odds.” – Swami Vivekananda
“This is the first lesson to learn: be determined not to curse anything outside, not to lay the blame upon anyone outside, but stand up, lay the blame on yourself. You will find that is always true. Get hold of yourself.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Be free; hope for nothing from anyone. I am sure if you look back upon your lives you will find that you were always vainly trying to get help from others which never came.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Always keep the mind cheerful. Everyone will die once. Cowards suffer the pangs of death again and again, solely due to the fear in their own minds.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Hinduism is the mother of all religions.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Are you unselfish? That is the question. If you are, you will be perfect without reading a single religious book, without going into a single church or temple.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Blame neither man, nor God, nor anyone in the world. When you find yourselves suffering, blame yourselves, and try to do better.” – Swami Vivekananda
“You have the right to work, but do not become so degenerate as to look for results. Work incessantly, but see something behind the work. Even good deeds can find a man in great bondage. Therefore be not bound by good deeds or by desires for name and fame.” – Swami Vivekananda
“In real meditation you forget the body. You may be cut to pieces and not feel it at all. You feel such pleasure in it. You become so light. This perfect rest we will get in meditation.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Every work has got to pass through hundreds of difficulties before succeeding. Those that persevere will see the light, sooner or later.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Man, therefore, according to the Vedanta philosophy, is the greatest being that is in the universe.” – Swami Vivekananda
“You must all pay attention to your health first.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Arise, awake, stop not until your goal is achieved.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Take Risks in Your Life If u Win, U Can Lead! If u Lose, U Can Guide!”
“Say, “I can do everything .” – Swami Vivekananda “Even if poison of a snake is powerless if you can firmly deny it.” – Swami Vivekananda”
“Turn thy gaze inward, wherein resides the Supreme Self.” – Swami Vivekananda
“You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.” – Swami Vivekananda
“No great work can be achieved by humbug. It is through love, a passion for truth, and tremendous energy, that all undertakings are accomplished.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The very reason for nature’s existence is for the education of the soul.” – Swami Vivekananda
“To be unselfish, perfectly selfless, is salvation itself; for the man within dies, and God alone remains.” – Swami Vivekananda
“It is the Prana that is manifesting as motion.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him – that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Life is short, and therefore, one thing being certain, death, let us take up a great ideal, and give up the whole life to it. For what is the value of life, this vegetating little low life of man? Subordinating it to one high ideal is the only value that life has.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Persevere on, my brave lads, We have only just begun. Never despond! Never say enough!”
“The ideal person is he who, in the midst of the greatest silence and solitude, finds the intensest activity, and in the midst of the intensest activity finds the silence and solitude of the desert.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Blame nobody else, do not commit the mistake of the ignorant.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If in this hell of a world one can bring a little joy and peace even for a day into the heart of a single person, that much alone is true; this I have learnt after suffering all my life; all else is mere moonshine.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I am responsible for my fate, I am the bringer of good unto myself, I am the bringer of evil. I am the Pure and Blessed One. We must reject all thoughts that assert to the contrary.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The uplift of the women, the awakening of the masses must come first, and then only can any real good come about for the country, for India.” – Swami Vivekananda
“This universe is the wreckage of the infinite on the shores of the finite.” – Swami Vivekananda
“So long as even a single dog in my country is without food, my whole religion will be to feed it.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The best guide in life is strength. In religion, as in all other matters, discard everything that weakens you, have nothing to do with it.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Spirituality as a science, as a study, is the greatest and healthiest exercise that the human mind can have.” – Swami Vivekananda
“My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation. Out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem like lions.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The forms have value only so far as they are expressions of the life within. If they have ceased to express life, crush them out without mercy.” – Swami Vivekananda
“One ounce of practice is worth a thousand pounds of theory.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All great undertakings are achieved through mighty obstacles. Keep up the deepest mental poise. Take not even the slightest notice of what puerile creatures may be saying against you.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The sages are often ignorant of physical science, because they read the wrong book-the book within; and the scientists are too often ignorant of religion, because they too read the wrong book-the book outside.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Ignorance is death, knowledge is life. Life is of very little value, if it is a life in the dark, groping through ignorance and misery.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Love and charity for the whole human race, that is the test of true religiousness.” – Swami Vivekananda
“In these days of intellectual awakening and steadily asserting public opinion, the holy places of the Hindus, their condition, and method of work have not escaped tile keen eye of criticism; and this city, being the holy of holies to all Hindus, has not failed to attract its full share of censure.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Anything that is western origin, first you verify it, then accept it. Anything that is Indian origin, first accept it, then verify it if necessary.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Space-time-causation, or name-and-form, is what is called Maya.” – Swami Vivekananda
“There is no limit to the power of the human mind. The more concentrated it is, the more power is brought to bear on one point.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Our supreme duty is to advance toward freedom-physical, mental, and spiritual-and help others to do so.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The great Vaishnava religion of India has also sprung from a Tamil Pariah – Shathakopa – “who was a dealer in winnowing-fans but was a Yogin all the while”.” – Swami Vivekananda
“A Sannyasin cannot belong to any religion, for his is a life of independent thought, which draws from all religions; his is a life of realisation, not merely of theory or belief, much less of dogma.” – Swami Vivekananda
“A few heart-whole, sincere, and energetic men and women can do more in a year than a mob in a century.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The law of attraction which holds good for the heavenly bodies also holds good for the smallest particles.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Without birth or death, eternal, ever-existing, free, unchangeable and beyond all conditions is this Soul of man – the real Self of Man – the Atman.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Strength is Life, Weakness is Death. Expansion is Life, Contraction is Death. Love is Life, Hatred is Death.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Man is the highest being in creation, because he attains to freedom.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Accumulate power in silence and become a dynamo of spirituality.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Say to your own minds, “I am He, I am He”. Let it ring day and night in your minds like a song, and at the point of death declare : “I am He”. That is truth; the infinite strength of the world is yours.” – Swami Vivekananda
“To me the thought of oneself as low and humble is a sin and ignorance.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All real progress must be slow.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Renunciation is the very basis upon which ethics stands. There never was an ethical code preached which had not renunciation for its basis.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Do not hate anybody, because that hatred which comes out from you must, in the long run, come back to you. If you love, that love will come back to you, completing the circle.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Purity, patience and perseverance are the three essentials to success and above all love.” – Swami Vivekananda
“You are the makers of your own fortunes. You make yourselves suffer, you make good and evil, and it is you who put your hands before your eyes and say it is dark. Take your hands away and see the light.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We reap what we sow we are the makers of our own fate. The wind is blowing; those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their way, but those which have their sails furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind? We make our own destiny.” – Swami Vivekananda
“What we want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel. We have wept long enough. No more weeping, but stand on your feet and be men. It is man-making theories that we want. It is man-making education all round that we want.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Anything that makes weak – physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject it as poison.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Holiness sincerity, and faith.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Have faith that you are all, my brave lads, born to do great things! Let not the barks of puppies frighten you, no, not even the thunderbolts of heaven, but stand up and work!”
“The Upanishads do not reveal the life of any teacher, but simply teach principles.” – Swami Vivekananda
“It is only by doing good to others that one attains to one’s own good.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Let us blame none, let us blame our own Karma.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful.” – Swami Vivekananda
“You must have an iron will, if you would cross the ocean. You must be strong enough to pierce mountains.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Even forgiveness, if weak and passive, is not true: fight is better. Forgive when you could bring legions of angels to the victory.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Matter is motion outside, mind is motion inside.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Stand up, be bold, and take the blame on your own shoulders. Do not go about throwing mud at others; for all the faults you suffer from, you are the sole and only cause.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Man is the nearest approach to Brahman.” – Swami Vivekananda
“There cannot be friendship without equality.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The Indian mythology has a theory of cycles, that all progression is in the form of waves.” – Swami Vivekananda
“No two persons have the same mind or the same body.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The Vedanta recognizes no sin it only recognizes error. And the greatest error, says the Vedanta is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature, and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The world is ready to give up its secrets if we only know how to knock, how to give it the necessary blow. The strength and force of the blow come through concentration.” – Swami Vivekananda
“However we may receive blows, and however knocked about we may be, the Soul is there and is never injured. We are that Infinite.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Work hard, be steady, and have faith in the Lord. Set to work.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The Impersonal God seen through the mists of sense is personal.” – Swami Vivekananda
“That is the great fact which you ought to remember. We are the children of the Almighty, we are sparks of the infinite, divine fire. How can we be nothings? We are everything, ready to do everything, we can do everything, and man must do everything.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The gift of knowledge is the highest gift in the world.” – Swami Vivekananda
“My countrymen should have nerves of steel, muscles of iron, and minds like thunderbolt.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Take off the veil of hypnotism which you have cast upon the world, send not out thoughts and words of weakness unto humanity.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If Jesus Christ was not perfect, then the religion bearing his name falls to the ground.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The idea of perfect womanhood is perfect independence.” – Swami Vivekananda
“My ideal, indeed, can be put into a few words, and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Work and worship are necessary to take away the veil, to lift off the bondage and illusion.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The test of ahimsa is the absence of jealousy. The man whose heart never cherishes even the thought of injury to anyone, who rejoices at the prosperity of even his greatest enemy, that man is the bhakta, he is the yogi, he is the guru of all.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The present is determined by our past actions, and the future by the present.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The principles of the Vedanta not only should be preached everywhere in India, but also outside. Our thought must enter into the make-up of the minds of every nation, not through writings, but through persons.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Two things control man’s character; Strength and Pity.” – Swami Vivekananda
“As the cause is, so the effect will be Cause is never different from effect, the effect is but the cause reproduced in another form.” – Swami Vivekananda
“From the high spiritual flights of the Vedanta philosophy, of which the latest discoveries of science seem like echoes, to the low ideas of idolatry with its multifarious mythology, the agnosticism of the Buddhists and the atheism of the Jains, each and all have a place in the Hinduism religion.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If faith in ourselves had been more extensively taught and practiced, I am sure a very large portion of the evils and miseries that we have would have vanished.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Man has infinite power within himself, and he can realise it – he can realise himself as the one infinite Self. It can be done; but you do not believe it. You pray to God and keep your powder dry all the time.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Purusha is the; great attraction of the universe; though untouched by and unconnected with the universe, yet it attracts the whole; universe.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The awakening of the soul to its bondage and its effort to stand up and assert itself – this is called life.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Women will work out their destinies – much better, too, than men can ever do for them. All the mischief to women has come because men undertook to shape the destiny of women.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Love is always mutual and reflective. You may hate me, and if I want to love you, you repulse me. But if I persist, in a month or a year you are bound to love me. It is a well-known psychological phenomenon.” – Swami Vivekananda
“There is no other teacher but your own soul.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Take courage and work on. Patience and steady work- this is the only way.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Self-sacrifice, not self-assertion, is the law of the highest universe.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Business is business, no child’s play.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Be a hero. Always say, ‘I have no fear.’ Tell this to everyone – ‘Have no fear.’”
“All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore love for love’s sake, because it is law of life, just as you breathe to live.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Bullies are always cowards.” – Swami Vivekananda
“In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart. ”
“A man ought to live in this world like a lotus leaf, which grows in water but is never moistened by water; so a man ought to live in the world – his heart to God and his hands to work.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Attachment comes only where we expect a return.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Learn Everything that is Good from Others, but bring it in, and in your own way absorb it; do not become others.” – Swami Vivekananda
“So long as we perceive this world in motion, we have to conceive will behind it.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Those who work at a thing heart and soul not only achieve success in it but through their absorption in that they also realize the supreme truth-Brahman. Those who work at a thing with their whole heart receive help from God.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Blessed are they whose bodies get destroyed in the service of others.” – Swami Vivekananda
“I stand for truth. Truth will never ally itself with falsehood. Even if all the world should be against me, Truth must prevail in the end.” – Swami Vivekananda
“It is always for greater joy that you give up the lesser. This is practical religion-the attainment of freedom, renunciation. Renounce the lower so that you may get the higher. Renounce! Renounce! Sacrifice! Give up! Not for zero. Not for nothing. But to get the higher.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The earth is enjoyed by heroes.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Have faith in yourselves, be proud of your ancestors, instead of being ashamed of them.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We shall have to work like lions, keeping the ideal before us, without caring whether “the wise ones praise or blame us”.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The waters of the Ganga are roaring among his matted locks.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in our own mind.” – Swami Vivekananda
“First, believe in the world-that there is meaning behind everything.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The development of man is a return to an original perfection.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Experience is the only teacher we have.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its treatment of its women.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves. That faith calls out the divinity within. You can do anything. You fail only when you do not strive sufficiently to manifest infinite power. As soon as a man or a nation loses faith, death comes.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Give up all desire for enjoyment in earth or heaven. Control the organs of the senses and control the mind. Bear every misery without even knowing that you are miserable. Think of nothing but spiritual freedom.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Devotion to duty is the highest form of worship of God.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The mind generally takes up various objects, runs into all sorts of things. That is the lower state. There is a higher state of the mind, when it takes up one object and excludes all others.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Manifest the divinity within you and everything will be harmoniously arranged around it.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Even the least work done for others awakens the power within; even thinking the least good of others gradually instills into the heart the strength of a lion.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Have faith in your destiny.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Strength is life, Weakness is death.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Never talk about the faults of others, no matter how bad they may be. Nothing is ever gained by that. You never help one by talking about his fault; you do him an injury, and injure yourself as well.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Dependence is misery. Independence is happiness.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If you have knowledge and see a man weak, do not condemn him. Go to his level and help him if you can. He must grow.” – Swami Vivekananda
“This world is not for cowards. Do not try to fly. Look not for success or failure. Join yourself to the perfectly unselfish will and work on.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The will is not free – it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect – but there is something behind the will which is free.” – Swami Vivekananda
“None will be able to resist truth and love and sincerity. Are you sincere? Unselfish even unto death, and loving? Then fear not, not even death.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Say it with pride we are Hindus.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Unity in variety is the plan of the universe.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Have faith in yourself. You people were once the Vedic Rishis. Only, you have come in different forms, that’s all. I see it clear as daylight that you all have infinite power in you. Rouse that up; arise, arise – apply yourselves heart and soul, gird up your loins.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Religion in India must be made as free and as easy of access as is God’s air.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The highest manifestation of strength is to keep ourselves calm and on our own feet.” – Swami Vivekananda
“It is faith that makes a lion of a man.” – Swami Vivekananda
“It is the highest manifestation of the power of Vairagya when it takes away even our attraction towards the qualities.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true.” – Swami Vivekananda
“My child, what I want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel, inside which dwells a mind of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made.” – Swami Vivekananda
“This is a great fact: strength is life; weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery, weakness is death.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Principles must conquer in the long run, for that is the manhood of man.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All is the Self or Brahman. The saint, the sinner, the lamb, the tiger, even the murderer, as far as they have any reality, can be nothing else, because there is nothing else.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If you can think that infinite power, infinite knowledge and indomitable energy lie within you, and if you can bring out that power, you also can become like me.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Where you find the attraction for lust and wealth considerably diminished, to whatever creed he may belong, know that his inner spirit is awakening.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Are great things ever done smoothly? Time, patience, and indomitable will must show.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Do not look back upon what has been done. Go Ahead.” – Swami Vivekananda
“To me an Indian is one who has got a Vedantic brain which probes deep and soars high; an Islamic body that is vibrant and valiant; a Buddhistic heart overflowing with compassion and kindness and Christian limbs of service and sacrifice.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Practice is absolutely necessary. You may sit down and listen to me by the hour every day, but if you do not practice, you will not get one step further. It all depends on practice.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The essence of Vedanta is that there is but one Being and that every soul is that Being in full, not a part of that Being.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Purity, patience and perseverance overcome all obstacles. All great things must of necessity be slow.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Why should a Man be Moral? Because this strengthens his will.” – Swami Vivekananda
“We first observe facts, then generalise, and then draw conclusions or principles.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Religion, in India, means realisation and nothing short of that.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If superstition enters, the brain is gone.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Never allow weakness to overtake your mind. Remember Mahavira, remember the Divine Mother! And you will see that all weakness, all cowardice will vanish at once.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time. Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.” – Swami Vivekananda
“All these disciplines are for the purification of the heart. And as soon as it is pure, all truths flash upon it in a minute; all truth in the universe will manifest in your heart, if you are sufficiently pure.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Pay particular attention to your health, but too much coddling of the body will, on the contrary, also spoil the health.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The fruit falls from the tree when it gets ripe. So wait for the time to come. Do not hurry. Moreover, no one has the right to make others miserable by his foolish acts. Wait, have patience, everything will come right in time.” – Swami Vivekananda
“If you really want to judge the character of a man, look not at his great performances. Watch a man do his most common actions.” – Swami Vivekananda
“God is very merciful to those whom He sees struggling heart and soul for spiritual realization. But remain idle, without any struggle, and you will see that His grace will never come.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The soul has neither sex, nor caste nor imperfection.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Had I lived in Palestine, in the days of Jesus of Nazareth, I would have washed his feet, not with my tears, but with my heart’s blood!”
“Meditation, you know, comes by a process imagination. You go through all these processes purification of the elements – making the one melt the other, that into the next higher, that into mind, that into spirit, and then you are spirit.” – Swami Vivekananda
“The whole life is a succession of dreams. My ambition is to be a conscious dreamer, that is all.” – Swami Vivekananda
“To make a great future India, the whole secret lies in organization, accumulation of power, co-ordination of wills.” – Swami Vivekananda
“Fear is death, fear is sin, fear is hell, fear is unrighteousness, and fear is wrong life. All the negative thoughts and ideas that are in the world have proceeded from this evil spirit of fear.” – Swami Vivekananda