Swami vivekananda quotes

Devotion to duty is the highest form of worship of God.

"You are pure and perfect, and what you call sin does not belong to you". Sins are low degrees of Self-manifestation; manifest your Self in a high degree.

The greatest sin is to think yourself weak

It is only by doing good to others that one attains to one's own good

Your success is not measured in terms of what all you obtained but in term of what you become, how you live and what actions you do. Upon this point reflect well and attain great happiness

To injure another creates bondage and hides the truth. Negative virtues are not enough; we have to conquer Maya, and then she will follow us. We only deserve things when they cease to bind us. When the bondage ceases, really and truly, all things come to us. Only those who want nothing are masters of nature.

Things do not grow better; they remain as they are. It is we who grow better, by the changes we make in ourselves.

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.

It is faith that makes a lion of a man.

I direct my attention to the individual, to make him strong, to teach him that he himself is divine, and I call upon men to make themselves conscious of this divinity within. That is really the ideal --conscious or unconscious --of every religion.

Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.

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.

There is only one Soul in the Universe. There is no 'you' or 'me'; all variety is merged into the absolute unity, the one infinite existence - God.

You must keep a strict eye on your health; let everything else be subordinated to that.

Make no conditions and none will be imposed.

The road to gooď is the roughest and steepest in the universe. It is a wonder that so many succeed, no wonder that so many fall. Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.

For one thing we may be grateful: this life is not eternal.

Be an atheist if you want, but do not believe in anything unquestioningly.

Do one thing at a Time, and while doing it put your whole Soul into it to the exclusion of all else.

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.

We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.

If you think that you are bound, you remain bound; you make your own bondage. If you know that you are free, you are free this moment. This is knowledge, knowledge of freedom. Freedom is the goal of all nature.

It is too often believed that a person in his progress towards perfection passes from error to truth; that when he passes on from one thought to another, he must necessarily reject the first. But no error can lead to truth. The soul passing through its different stages goes from truth to truth, and each stage is true; it goes from lower truth to higher truth.

We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves.

When death is so certain, it is better to die for a good cause.

Manushya (man) is a being with Manas (mind); and as soon as his thinking power goes, he becomes no better than an animal.

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.

Anything that is in space has form. Space itself has form. Either you are in space, or space is in you. The soul is beyond all space. Space is in the soul, not the soul in space.

[Not parroting.] My old Master used to say, "It is all very good to teach the parrot to say, 'Lord, Lord, Lord' all the time; but let the cat come and take hold of its neck, it forgets all about it" [You may] pray all the time, read all the scriptures in the world, and worship all the gods there are, [but] unless you realise the soul there is no freedom. Not talking, theorising, argumentation, but realisation. That I call practical religion.

When a man is perfect, he sees perfection in others. When he sees imperfection, it is his own mind projecting itself.

Do not lower your goals to the level of your abilities. Instead, raise your abilities to the height of your goals.

He who struggles is better than he who never attempts

The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength.

The man who becomes angry never does a great amount of work, and the man whom nothing can make angry accomplishes so much.

All power is within you. Believe in that,do not believe that you are weak... Stand up and express the Divinity within you.

There cannot be two almighty beings in this world. [Imagine having] two or three Gods; one will create the world, another says, "I will destroy the world." It [can] never happen. There must be one God. The soul attains to perfection; [it becomes] almost omnipotent [and] omniscient. This is the worshipper. Who is the worshipped? He, the Lord God Himself, the Omnipresent, the Omniscient, and so on. And above all, He is Love. How is [the soul] to attain this perfection? By worship.

Never say NO, Never say, 'I cannot', for you are INFINITE. All the power is WITHIN you. You can do anything.

External nature is only internal nature writ large.

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, 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.

In everything we do, the serpent ego is rising up.

Salvation means knowing the truth. We do not become anything; we are what we are. Salvation [comes] by faith and not by work. It is a question of knowledge! You must know what you are, and it is done. The dream vanishes. This you [and others] are dreaming here. When they die, they go to [the] heaven [of their dream]. They live in that dream, and [when it ends], they take a nice body [here], and they are good people.

Whatever you believe, that you will be. If you believe yourselves to be sages, sages you will be tomorrow. There is nothing to obstruct you.

By work alone, men may get to where Buddha got largely by meditation or Christ by prayer. Buddha was a working Jnani, Christ was a Bhakta, but the same goal was reached by both of them. Good motives, sincerity, and infinite love can conquer the world. One single soul possessed of these virtues can destroy the dark designs of millions of hypocrites and brutes.

The real work is in the practice.

The weak, the fearful, the ignorant will never reach the Atman. You cannot undo what you have done; the effect must come. Face it, but be careful never to do the same thing again. Give up the burden of all deeds to God. Give all, both good and bad. God helps those who do not help themselves.

The gift of knowledge is the highest gift in the world.

He who has conquered the internal nature controls the whole universe; it becomes his servant.

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.

You and I and everything in the universe are that Absolute, not parts, but the whole. You are the whole of that Absolute, and so are all others, because the idea of part cannot come into it.

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.

Everything is easy when you are busy. But nothing is easy when you are lazy.

Music alone can take you to the Highest!

Take Risks in Your Life If you Win, U Can Lead! If You Lose, You can Guide!

When I Asked God for Strength He Gave Me Difficult Situations to Face When I Asked God for Brain & Brawn He Gave Me Puzzles in Life to Solve When I Asked God for Happiness He Showed Me Some Unhappy People When I Asked God for Wealth He Showed Me How to Work Hard When I Asked God for Favors He Showed Me Opportunities to Work Hard When I Asked God for Peace He Showed Me How to Help Others God Gave Me Nothing I Wanted He Gave Me Everything I Needed.

Bless people when they revile you. Think how much good they are doing by helping to stamp out the false ego.

The best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its treatment of its women.

Attachment comes only where we expect a return.

Have faith in man, whether he appears to you to be a very learned one or a most ignorant one. Have faith in man, whether he appears to be an angel or the very devil himself. Have faith in man first, and then having faith in him, believe that if there are defects in him, if he makes mistakes, if he embraces the crudest and the vilest doctrines, believe that it is not from his real nature that they come, but from the want of higher ideals.

The same power is in every man, the one manifesting more, the other less; the same potentiality is in everyone.

The greatest help to spiritual life is meditation. In meditation we divest ourselves of all material conditions and feel our divine nature. We do not depend upon any external help in meditation. The touch of the soul can paint the brightest color even in the dingiest places; it can cast a fragrance over the vilest thing; it can make the wicked divine-and all enmity, all selfishness is effaced.

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.

The power of purity-it is a definite power.

The real man is the one Unit Existence.

The awakening of the soul to its bondage and its effort to stand up and assert itself - this is called life.

It is the greatest manifestation of power to be calm.

All the work you do, is done for your own salvation, is done for your own benefit.

Let us give out of our own bounty, just as God gives to us.

High achievements in art, music, etc., are the results of concentration.

Take up an idea, devote yourself to it, struggle on in patience, and the sun will rise for you.

This is the one great idea to understand that our power is already ours, our salvation is already within us.

Do not look back upon what has been done. Go Ahead.

The whole point is to discipline the mind.

Even the least work done for others awakens the power within.

Talk to yourself atleast once in a Day.. Otherwise you may miss a meeting with an EXCELLENT person in this World.

The history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves

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.

You must try to combine in your life immense idealism with immense practicality. You must be prepared to go into deep meditation now, and the next moment you must be ready to go and cultivate the fields. You must be prepared to explain the intricacies of the scriptures now, and the next moment to go and sell the produce of the fields in the market....The true man is he who is strong as strength itself and yet possesses a woman's heart.

The present is determined by our past actions, and the future by the present.

We want to worship a living God. I have not seen anything but God all my life, nor have you... He is everywhere, saying, "I am." The moment you feel "I am," you are conscious of Existence. Where shall we go to find God if we cannot see Him in our own hearts and in every living being?

Whatever you think, that you will be.

The infinite library of the Universe is in your mind.

The ideal of faith in ourselves is of the greatest help to us. 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. Throughout the history of mankind, if any motive power has been more potent than another in the lives of all great men and women, it is that of faith in themselves.

The past was great no doubt, but I sincerely believe that the future will be more glorious still.

As soon as extreme attachment comes, a man loses himself, he is no more master of himself, he is a slave.

A wave in the ocean is a wave, only in so far as it is bound by name and form.

There is but one temple - the body. It is the only temple that ever existed.

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.

Our supreme duty is to advance toward freedom - physical, mental, and spiritual - and help others to do so.

Blame nobody else, do not commit the mistake of the ignorant.

The Absolute can never be thought of.

Impurity is a mere superimposition under which your real nature has become hidden. But the real you is already perfect, already strong.

The benefits of knowledge can only be realized in practice.

Neither money pays, nor name pays, nor fame, nor learning; it is CHARACTER that cleave through adamantine walls of difference.

To succeed, you must have tremendous perserverance... tremendous will. "I will drink the ocean", says the perservering soul; at my will mountains will crumble. Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal.

Say, "I can do everything ." "Even if poison of a snake is powerless if you can firmly deny it."

Man will have to go beyond intellect in the end.

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.

Stand up and be strong! No fear. No superstition. Face the truth as it is!

Here lies the secret. Says Patanjali, the father of Yoga, "When a man rejects all the superhuman powers, then he attains to the cloud of virtue." He sees God. He becomes God and helps others to become the same. This is all I have to preach. Doctrines have been expounded enough. There are books by the million. Oh, for an ounce of practice!

Art is - representing the beautiful. There must be Art in everything.

This rascal ego must be obliterated.

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.

Pleasure is not the goal of man, but knowledge. Pleasure and happiness comes to an end. It is a mistake to suppose that pleasure is the goal. The cause of all the miseries we have in the world is that men foolishly think pleasure to be the ideal to strive for. After a time man finds that it is not happiness, but knowledge, towards which he is going, and that both pleasure and pain are great teachers.

The moment you fear, you are nobody.

True progress is slow but sure.

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.

Dependence is misery. Independence is happiness.

You are strong, omnipotent, and omniscient. No matter that you have not expressed it yet, it is in you. All knowledge is in you, all power, all purity, and all freedom-why cannot you express this knowledge? Because you do not believe in it... Believe in it, and it must and will come out.

There is no other teacher but your own soul.

Everyone goes with the flow... but the one who goes against the flow becomes someone remarkable in life.

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

Learning and wisdom are superfluities, the surface glitter merely, but it is the heart that is the seat of all power.

You are incarnations of God, all of you. You are incarnations of the Almighty, Omnipresent, Divine Principle. You may laugh at me now, but the time will come when you will understand. You must. Nobody will be left behind.

Look upon every man, woman, and everyone as God. You cannot help anyone, you can only serve: serve the children of the Lord, serve the Lord Himself, if you have the privilege.

The more you think of yourself as shining immortal spirit, the more eager you will be to be absolutely free of matter, body, and senses. This is the intense desire to be free.

Man the infinite dreamer, dreaming finite dreams!

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.

You know the disease, you know the remedy, only have faith.

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.

Practice makes us what we shall be.

When we free ourselves from name and form, especially from a body - when we need no body, good or bad - then only do we escape from bondage. Eternal progression is eternal bondage; annihilation of form is to be preferred. We must get free from any body, even a "god-body". God is the only real existence, there cannot be two. There is but One Soul, and I am That.

Why should a Man be Moral? Because this strengthens his will.

If you are pure, if you are strong, you, one man are equal to the whole world.

Purity, patience and perseverance overcome all obstacles. All great things must of necessity be slow.

Man's experience in the world is to enable him to get out of its whirlpool.