Quotes by Swami Vivekananda

* Choose
the highest ideal and live your life upto that. Look at the "ocean" and not at the wave.

* That
which tends to increase the divinity in you is virtue, and that which tends to increase brutality in you is vice.

* He
who sees Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Shiva.

* Purity
in thought, speech, and act is absolutely necessary for anyone to be religious. Purity is strength. Spiritual truth is purity.

* The
ideal of the man is to see God in everything. The real evil is idleness which is the principal cause of our poverty.

* Everyone
should know that there is no salvation except through the conquering of desires.

* Death
being so certain, it is better to die for a good cause.

* Religion
is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man.

* Your
country reqires heroes, be heroes!

* To
me the very essence of education is concentration of the mind, not the collecting of facts.

* Each
soul is potentially divine.

* Religion
is the idea which is raising the brute unto man, and man unto God.

* All
power is within you; you can do anything and everything. Believe in that.

* Work,
work, work - let this be your motto.

* Now
the only way out is to listen to the words of the Lord in the Gita.

* Be
a hero. Always say, "I have no fear".

* Struggle
hard to get money, but don’t get attached to it.

* Feel
that you are great and you become great.

* To
devote your life to the good of all and to the happiness of all is religion. Whatever you do for your own sake is not religion.

* At
my will mountains will crumble up. Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal.

* It
is those foolish people who identify themselves with their bodies that piteously cry, ‘Weak, weak, we are weak’.

* Keep
the motto before you: "Elevation of the masses without injuring their religion".

* Man
never progresses from error to truth, but from truth to truth, from lesser truth to higher truth.

* Avoid
all weakness, for weakness is sin, weakness is death.

* Never
talk about the faults of others, no matter how bad they may be. Nothing is ever gained by that.

* I
shall inspire men everywhere until the world shall know that it is one with God.

* Let
us go forward and do yet greater things.

* The
more selfish a man, the more immoral he is.

* Give
to the weak, for there all the gift is needed.

* Knowledge
exists, man only discovers it.

* Give
up all desire for enjoyment in earth or heaven.

* Be
courageous. Do not try to lead your brethren, but serve them.

* Be
the witness and do not react, only thus can you be happy.

* None
can help you, help yourself; work out your own salvation.

* Be
not afraid of anything. You will do marvellous work.

* Try
to love anybody and everybody.

* You
have to go from the inside out. None can teach you, non can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.

* Know
it for certain that you are in everything.

* Go
on bravely. Do not expect success in a day or a year.

* Let
all your nerves vibrate through the backbone of your religion.

* Do
not talk much, but feel the spirit within you.

* If
you want to be spiritual, you must renounce.

* Your
way is the best for you, but that is no sign that it is the best for
others.

* Renounce
the lower so that you may get the higher.

* Where
can we go to find God if we cannot see Him in our own hearts and in every living being?

* Your
work is to serve the poor and miserable, without distinction of caste or colour.

* Help
another because yu are in him and he is in you.

* The
poor, the illiterate, the ignorant, the afflicted,…let these be your God. Know that service to these alone is the highest religion.

* If
I am in the dark, let me light a lamp.

* The
earth’s bravest and best will have to sacrifice themselves for the good of many, for the welfare of all.

* Every
duty is holy, and devotion to duty is the highest form of worship of God.

* We
only get what we deserve. It is a lie when we say, the world is bad and we are good. It can never be so.

* You
will understand the mighty strength of Krishna better with a little of strong blood in you.

* It
is struggle against nature and not conformity to nature that makes man what he is.

* Each
work has to pass through these stages - ridicule, opposition and then acceptance.

* First
there should be strict integrity…Secondly, entire devotion to the cause

* The
will is not free - it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind the will which is free.

* You
fail only when you do not strive sufficiently to manifest infinite power.

* Whatever
you do, devote your whole Mind, Heart, and Soul to it.

* Whatever
you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.

* Never
mind failures; they are quite natural, they are the beauty of life - these failures.

* He
works best who works without any motive, neither for money, nor for fame, nor for anything else.

* The
new religion says that he is an atheist who does not believe in himself.

* Neither
seek nor avoid, take what comes.

* You
should work like a master and not as a slave; work incessantly, but do not do a slave’s work

* Believe
that the soul is immortal, infinite and all powerful.

* Even
if the order be wrong, first obey and then contradict it.

* Be
a hero. Always say, "I have no fear".

* Our
first duty is not to hate ourselves; because to advance we must have faith in ourselves first and then in God.