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The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Book by Swami Vivekananda · 41 quotes · Men, Ifs, World

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The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda Quotes

“Do you believe in that Infinite, good Providence working in and through you? If you believe that this Omnipresent One is present in every atom, is through and through, Ota-Prota, as the Sanskrit word goes, penetrating your body, mind and soul, how can you lose heart?”

IfsMindBelieveHeartSoulBodyFaithLosesInfiniteYour BodyAtomsProvidenceIf You BelieveSanskritMind Body And Soul
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“This is the only way to reach the goal, to tell ourselves, and to tell everybody else, that we are divine. And as we go on repeating this, strength comes. He who falters at first will get stronger and stronger, and the voice will increase in volume until the truth takes possession of our hearts, and courses through our veins, and permeates our bodies.”

WayFirstsHeartBodyCoursesGoalVoiceStrengthDivineGoes OnIncreaseStrongerPossessionVolumeVeins
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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
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“Give up the idea that by ruling over others you can do any good to them. But you can do just as much as you can in the case of the plant: you can supply the growing seed with the materials for the making up of its body, bringing to it the earth, the water, the air, that it wants. It will take all that it wants by its own nature, it will assimilate and grow by its own nature.”

WantGivingIdeasBodyEarthGrowsWaterCan DoCasesGrowingAirMaterialsGiving UpPlantSeedsRulingMaking Up
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“Try a little harder, and meditation comes. You do not feel the body or anything else. When you come out of it after the hour, you have had the most beautiful rest you ever had in your life. That is the only way you ever give rest to your system. Not even the deepest sleep will give you such a rest as that.”

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“We should cultivate the optimistic temperament, and endeavour to see the good that dwells in everything. If we sit down and lament over the imperfection of our bodies and our minds, we profit nothing; it is the heroic endeavour to subdue adverse circumstances that carries our spirit upward.”

IfsShouldMindBodySpiritCircumstancesOptimismDown AndProfitOptimisticCarrieImperfectionHeroicTemperamentEndeavourLamentAdverse
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“The fact is that we have many superstitions, many bad spots and sores on our body - these have to be excised, cut off, and destroyed - but these do not destroy our religion, our national life, our spirituality. Every principle of religion is safe, and the sooner these black spots are purged away, the better the principles will shine, the more gloriously. Stick to them.”

FactsBodySpiritualityBlackPrinciplesCuttingSafeShiningSticksDestroyedSpotsSuperstitions
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“What is the idea of God in heaven? Materialism. The Vedantic idea is the infinite principle of God embodied in every one of us. God sitting up on a cloud! Think of the utter blasphemy of it! It is materialism - downright materialism. When babies think this way, it may be all right, but when grown - up men try to teach such things, it is downright disgusting - that is what it is. It is all matter, all body idea, the gross idea, the sense idea. Every bit of it is clay and nothing but clay. Is that religion?”

ThinkingMenWayTryingMayIdeasMatterBodyHeavenBitsPrinciplesTeachBabySittingInfiniteCloudsMaterialismDisgustingGrossClayBlasphemySitting Up
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“There are men who practice Titiksha, and succeed in it. There are men who sleep on the banks of the Ganga in the midsummer sun of India, and in winter float in the waters of the Ganga for a whole day; they do not care. Men sit in the snow of the Himalayas, and do not care to wear any garment. What is heat? What is cold? Let things come and go, what is that to me, I am not the body.”

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“As to the so-called Hindu idolatry - first go and learn the forms they are going through, and where it is that the worshippers are really worshipping, whether in the temple, in the image, or in the temple of their own bodies. First know for certain what they are doing - which more than ninety per cent of the revilers are thoroughly ignorant of - and then it will explain itself in the light of the Vedantic philosophy.”

KnowsFirstsPhilosophyBodyLightFormCertainWorshipIgnorantTemplesCentsNinetyIdolatryWorshippersIdol Worship
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“We are all born idolaters, and idolatry is good, because it is in the nature of man. Who can get beyond it? Only the perfect man, the God-man. The rest are all idolaters. So long as we see this universe before us, with its forms and shapes, we are all idolaters. This is a gigantic symbol we are worshipping. He who says he is the body is a born idolater.”

MenLongBodyFormUniverseBornPerfectShapesWorshipSymbolsIdolatryNature Of ManPerfect ManIdol Worship
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