Quotessence
Home / Authors / Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllMenIfsWorldMotivationalMindSoulBodyThinkingInspirationalKnows

Famous Swami Vivekananda Quotes

“True religion is not talk, or doctrines, or theories, nor is it sectarianism. It is the relation between soul and God. Religion does not consist in erecting temples, or building churches, or attending public worship. It is not to be found in books, or in words, or in lectures, or in organizations. Religion consists in realization. We must realize God, feel God, see God, talk to God. That is religion.”

FeelsDoeBookSoulFoundRealizingChurchBuildingTheoryWorshipOrganizationRelationDoctrineRealizationTemplesLecturesAttendingTrue ReligionSectarianism
Author:Swami Vivekananda
Create image

“We can never lose what is really ours. Who can lose his being? Who can lose his very existence? If I am good, it is the existence first, and then that becomes colored with the quality of goodness. If I am evil, it is the existence first, and that becomes colored with the quality of badness. That existence is first, last, and always; it is never lost but ever present.”

IfsFirstsLastsEvilLostLosesExistenceQualityGoodnessGoodBadness
Book:Living at the Source: Yoga Teachings of Vivekananda
Create image

“We get caught. How? Not by what we give but by what we expect. We get misery in return for our love: not from the fact that we love but from the fact that we want love in return. There is no misery where there is no want. Desire, want, is the father of all misery. Desires are bound by the laws of success and failure. Desires must bring misery.”

WantGivingFactsLawDesireFatherReturnMiseryBoundsCaughtOur LoveSuccess And Failure
Book:Vedanta: Voice of Freedom
Create image

“Each one of us pray, day and night, for the downtrodden millions in India, who are held fast by poverty, priest craft, and tyranny - pray day and night for them. I am no meta physician, no philosopher, nay, no saint. But I am poor, I love the poor.... Let these people be your God - think of them, work for them, pray for them incessantly - the Lord will show you the way.”

PeopleThinkingWayShowsNightPoorLordPovertyMillionsPrayingIndiaSaintPhilosopherTyrannyCraftsPriestsPhysiciansDay And NightIncessantlyDowntrodden
Author:Swami Vivekananda
Create image

“I am what I am, and what I am is always due to him; whatever in me or in my words is good and true and eternal came to me from his mouth, his heart, his soul. Sri Ramakrishna is the spring of this phase of the earth's religious life, of its impulses and activities. If I can show the world one glimpse of my Master, I shall not have lived in vain.”

IfsWorldHeartI CanSoulShowsEarthReligiousMastersActivityEternalSpringMouthsDuesVainImpulsePhasesGlimpseReligious LifeI Am What I Am
Author:Swami Vivekananda
Create image

“Sri Ramakrishna is far greater than the disciples understand him to be. He is the embodiment of infinite spiritual ideas capable of development in infinite ways....One glance of his gracious eyes can create a hundred thousand Vivekanandas at this instant. If he chooses now, instead, to work through me, making me his instrument, I can only bow to his will.”

IfsWayI CanIdeasEyeSpiritualGreaterDevelopmentThousandCapableHundredInfiniteInstrumentsInstantBowsDiscipleGlancesGraciousEmbodimentVivekananda
Author:Swami Vivekananda
Create image

“Who cares for your bhakti and mukti? Who cares what your scriptures say? I will go into a thousand hells cheerfully if I can rouse my countrymen, immersed in tamas, to stand on their own feet and be men inspired with the spirit of karma-yoga. I am a follower only of he or she who serves and helps others without caring for his own bhakti and mukti!”

IfsMenI CanHelpingCareSpiritHellFeetThousandYogaInspiredCaringKarmaHelping OthersScriptureFollowersWho CaresBe A ManCountrymenKarma YogaBhakti YogaCare For YouBhakti
Author:Swami Vivekananda
Create image

“There must be no fear, no begging, but demanding - demanding the Highest. The true devotees of the Mother are as hard, as adamant and as fearless as lions. They are not in the least upset if the whole universe suddenly crumbles into dust at their feet. Make Her listen to you. None of that cringing to Mother! Remember, She is all-powerful; She can make heroes out of stones.”

IfsHardWholeRememberMotherUniversePowerfulFeetHeroHighestStonesDustFearlessUpsetLionsNo FearBeggingDevoteeAdamant
Author:Swami Vivekananda
Create image

“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.”

MenTryingHeartMomentsNextStrongMeditationFieldsProduceReadySellsPreparedScriptureImmenseBe PreparedIdealismPracticalityTrue ManIntricacyDeep Meditation
Author:Swami Vivekananda
Create image

“Behind my work was ambition, behind my love was personality, behind my purity was fear, behind my guidance the thirst for power. Now they are vanishing and I drift. I come, Mother, I come, in Thy warm bosom, floating wheresoever Thou takest me, in the voiceless, in the strange, in the wonderland, I come - a spectator, no more an actor.”

MotherActorsBehindsStrangePersonalityAmbitionWarmGuidancePurityThirstFloatingSpectatorsBosomsWonderlandVanishingVoicelessThirst For Power
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
Create image

“What good is this body? Let it go in helping others. Did not the Master preach until the very end? And shall I not do the same? I do not care a straw if the body goes. You cannot imagine how happy I am when I find earnest seekers after truth to talk to. In the work of waking up Atman in my fellow men I shall gladly die again and again!”

IfsMenEndsHelpingBodyCareDiesImagineMastersWake UpFellowsHelping OthersWakingAgain And AgainEarnestFellow ManSeekersLet It GoStrawsAtman
Author:Swami Vivekananda
Create image

“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.”

MenWorldMaySoulGoalChristDarkPrayerMillionsVirtueMeditationDesignInfiniteConquerMotiveSincerityPossessedHypocriteBrutesInfinite LoveConquer The WorldAlone Man
Author:Swami Vivekananda
Create image