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Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda Quotes

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Famous Swami Vivekananda Quotes

“God is true. The universe is a dream. Blessed am I that I know this moment that I have been and shall be free all eternity; ... that I know that I am worshiping only myself; that no nature, no delusion, had any hold on me. Vanish nature from me, vanish these gods; vanish worship; ... vanish superstitions, for I know myself. I am the Infinite. All these - Mrs. So-and-so, Mr. So-and-so, responsibility, happiness, misery - have vanished. I am the Infinite. How can there be death for me, or birth? Whom shall I fear? I am the One. Shall I be afraid of myself? Who is to be afraid of whom?”

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Author:Swami Vivekananda
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“No one step back, that is the idea.... Fight it out, whatever comes. Let the stars move from the sphere! Let the whole world stand against us!.... What of it? Thus fight! You gain nothing by becoming cowards.... Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any misfortune.”

WorldIdeasWholeMotivationalMovingFightingStarsStepsBecomingGainsWhole WorldCowardMisfortunesSpheres
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“Let each one of us pray day and night for the downtrodden millions who are held fast by poverty, priestcraft, and tyranny. Pray day and night for them. I care more to preach religion to them than to the high and the rich.”

MotivationalCareNightPovertyMillionsRichPrayingTyrannyI CareDay And NightDowntrodden
Book:Vivekananda, World Teacher: His Teachings on the Spiritual Unity of Humankind
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“Truth alone triumphs, not untruth. Through truth alone lies the way to Devayana (the way to the gods). Those who think that a little sugar - coating of untruth helps the spread of truth are mistaken and will find in the long run that a single drop of poison poisons the whole mass ... The man who is pure, and who dares, does all things.”

ThinkingMenWayLittlesLongDoeWholeHelpingMotivationalRunningLyingHe ManPureMassAll ThingsDareSpreadTriumphPoisonSugarLong RunsMistakenUntruthSugar Coating
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“I am one of the proudest men ever born, but let me tell you frankly, it is not for myself, but on account of my ancestry. The more I have studied the past, the more I have looked back, more and more has this pride come to me, and it has given me the strength and courage of conviction, raised me up from the dust of the earth, and set me working out that great plan laid out by those great ancestors of ours.”

MenMotivationalEarthPastGivenBornPlansPrideLet MeAccountsRaisedConvictionWork OutDustAncestorAncestry
Book:Swami Vivekananda on Himself
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“For the next fifty years this alone shall be our keynote - this, our great Mother India. Let all other vain gods disappear for the time from our minds. This is the only god that is awake, our own race - "everywhere his hands, everywhere his feet, everywhere his ears, he covers everything." All other gods are sleeping. What vain gods shall we go after and yet cannot worship the god that we see all round us, the Virât? When we have worshiped this, we shall be able to worship all other gods.”

YearsMindHandsMotivationalAbleMotherNextSleepRaceFeetWorshipEarsIndiaRoundsDisappearVainAwakeFiftyGreat Mother
Book:Vivekananda Reader
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“Brave, bold men, these are what we want. What we want is vigor in the blood, strength in the nerves, iron muscles and nerves of steel, not softening namby-pamby ideas. Avoid all these. Avoid all mystery. There is no mystery in religion. Is there any mystery in the Vedanta, or in the Vedas, or in the Samhitâs, or in the Puranas? What secret societies did the sages of yore establish to preach their religion? What sleight-of-hand tricks are there recorded as used by them to bring their grand truths to humanity?”

MenWantIdeasHandsMotivationalUsedHumanitySecretMysteryBloodBraveTricksMusclesIronOld ManNervesSteelSageVigorVedantaSecret SocietyVedasSleight Of Hand
Book:Lectures Vol. 3
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“Strength, strength is what the Upanishads speak to me from every page. This is the one great thing to remember, it has been the one great lesson I have been taught in my life; strength, it says, strength, O man, be not weak. Are there no human weaknesses? - says man. There are, say the Upanishads, but will more weakness heal them, would you try to wash dirt with dirt? Will sin cure sin, weakness cure weakness? Strength, O man, strength, say the Upanishads, stand up and be strong.”

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Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“Even the greatest fool can accomplish a task if it be after his heart. But the intelligent man is he who can convert every work into one that suits his taste. No work is petty. Everything in this world is like a banyan seed, which, though appearing tiny as a mustard seed, has yet the gigantic banyan tree latent with it. He indeed is intelligent who notices this and succeeds in making all work truly great.”

IfsMenWorldHeartTreeThis WorldFoolTasteSucceedTasksIntelligentAccomplishSeedsTinySuitsPettyAppearingLatentIntelligent ManMustardMustard Seed
Book:Personality Development
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“We find the vast majority of people in every country believing that there will be a time when this world will become perfect, when there will be no disease, nor death, nor unhappiness, nor wickedness. That is a very good idea, a very good motive power to inspire and uplift the ignorant. But if we think for a moment, we shall find on the very face of it that it cannot be so. How can it be, seeing that good and evil are the obverse and reverse of the same coin? How can you have good without evil at the same time?”

PeopleIfsThinkingWorldBelieveIdeasCountryMomentsFacesEvilPerfectSeeingThis WorldInspireDiseaseMajorityVery GoodIgnorantUpliftingMotiveGood And EvilUnhappinessGood IdeasReverseCoinsWickedness
Author:Swami Vivekananda
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“Liberty is the first condition of growth. Your ancestors gave every liberty to the soul, and religion grew. They put the body under every bondage, and society did not grow. The opposite is the case in the West - every liberty to society, none to religion. Now are falling off the shackles from the feet of Eastern society as from those of Western religion.”

FirstsSoulBodyFallGrowsGrowthLibertyCasesFeetConditionsGrewOppositesWestWesternAncestorEasternBondageShacklesFalling Off
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“I am thoroughly convinced that no individual or nation can live by holding itself apart from the community of others. Give and take is the law; and if India wants to raise herself once more, it is absolutely necessary that she brings out her treasures and throws them broadcast among the nations of the earth, and in return be ready to receive what others have to give her. Expansion is life, contraction is death. Love is life, and hatred is death. We commenced to die the day we began to hate other races; and nothing can prevent our death unless we come back to expansion, which is life.”

IfsWantGivingEarthLawHateDiesIndividualNationsCommunityLove IsRaceReadyReturnHatredIndiaRaisesConvincedTreasureLive ByExpansionGive And TakeContractionsLove Is Life
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“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.”

ThinkingMenWorldEndsPainCausesGoalPleasureMistakeTeacherIdealsMiseryStriveGreat TeacherPain And PleasurePleasure And Happiness
Book:Karma Yoga: The Yoga of Action
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“As soon as a man stands up and says he is right or his church is right, and all others are wrong, he is himself all wrong. He does not know that upon the proof of all the others depends the proof of his own. Love and charity for the whole human race, that is the test of true religiousness. I do not mean the sentimental statement that all men are brothers, but that one must feel the oneness of human life.”

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Book:Vivekananda, World Teacher: His Teachings on the Spiritual Unity of Humankind
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“That truth which you swallow from others will not be yours...you have to realize truth and work it our for yourself according to your own nature...All must struggle to be individuals-strong, standing on your own feet, thinking your own thoughts, realizing you own Self. No use swallowing doctrines others pass on-standing up together like soldiers in jail, sitting down together, all eating the same food, all nodding their heads at the same time. Variation is the sign of life. Sameness is the sign of death.”

ThinkingSelfUseTogetherIndividualStrongRealizingStruggleFeetEatingSittingStandingSoldierDoctrineWorking ItJailVariationSitting DownSamenessSwallowingNoddingSigns Of Life
Author:Swami Vivekananda
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“We say that if a temple, or a symbol, or an image helps you to realize the Divine within, you are welcome to it. Have two hundred images if you like. If certain forms and formulas help you to realize the Divine, God speed you; have, by all means, whatever forms, temples, whatever ceremonies you want to bring you nearer to God. But do not quarrel about them; the moment you quarrel, you are not going Godward, you are going backward towards the brutes.”

IfsWantMeanTwoMomentsHelpingFormCertainRealizingDivineHundredSpeedWelcomeSymbolsTemplesFormulasWithin YouCeremonyQuarrelsBrutes
Author:Swami Vivekananda
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