The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

“Despite the many iniquities that have found entrance into the practices of image-worship as it is in vogue now, I do not condemn it. Ay, where would I have been if I had not been blessed with the dust of the holy feet of that orthodox, image-worshipping Brahmin!”

IfsHas BeensFoundPracticeFeetHolyWorshipBlessedDespiteDustOrthodoxIdolatryEntrancesVogueIniquityIdol WorshipBrahmins

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“The test of having ceased to be an idolater is: "When you say 'I', does the body come into your thought or not? If it does, then you are still a worshipper of idols."”

IfsDoeStillsBodyWorshipTestsIdolsIdolatryWorshippersIdol Worship

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“Those reformers who preach against image-worship, or what they denounce as idolatry - to them I say "Brothers, if you are fit to worship God-without-form discarding all external help, do so, but why do you condemn others who cannot do the same?"”

IfsHelpingFormBrotherFitWorshipIdolatryWorship GodReformersIdol Worship

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“If there be no eternal life, still the enjoyment of spiritual thoughts as ideals is keener and makes a man happier, whilst the foolery of materialism leads to competition and undue ambition and ultimate death, individual and national.”

IfsMenStillsSpiritualIndividualAmbitionEternalIdealsUltimateCompetitionEnjoymentMaterialismEternal LifeFoolery

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“Even forgiveness, if weak and passive, is not true: fight is better. Forgive when you could bring legions of angels to the victory.”

IfsFightingVictoryForgivenessAngelWeakForgivingPassiveLegion

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“A monk is not forbidden to marry, but if he takes a wife she becomes a monk with the same powers and privileges and occupies the same social position as her husband.”

IfsSocialMarriageWifePositionHusbandPrivilegeForbiddenMonk

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“If one has got power, one must manifest it in action.”

IfsActionPowerManifest

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“If you intend to study the mind, you must have systematic training; you must practice to bring the mind under your control.”

IfsMindPracticeStudyTrainingSystematic

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“Practice is absolutely necessary. You may sit down and listen to me by the hour every day, but if you do not practice, you will not get one step further. It all depends on practice.”

IfsMayHoursStepsPracticeDependsDown AndListen To Me

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“If you are angry, and then happy, the next moment the anger passes away. Out of that anger you manufactured the next state. These states are always interchangeable. Eternal happiness and misery are a child's dream.”

IfsChildrenStatesMomentsDreamNextEternalAngerAngryMiseryPassing AwayEternal Happiness

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“If you dare declare that you are free, free you are this moment. If you say you are bound, bound you will remain.”

IfsMomentsBoundsDareBondage

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“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.”

IfsMenHelpingGrowsLevelsWeak

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“Science, art, learning and metaphysical research all have their proper functions in life, but if you seek to blend them, you destroy their individual characteristics until, in time, you eliminate the spiritual, for instance, from the religious altogether.”

IfsArtSpiritualIndividualReligiousResearchFunctionInstanceCharacteristicsMetaphysical

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“Every one is struggling for freedom-from the atom to the star. The ignorant man is satisfied if he can get freedom within a certain limit-if he can get rid of the bondage of hunger or of being thirsty. But that sage feels that there is a stronger bondage which has to be thrown off. He would not consider the freedom of the Red Indian as freedom at all.”

IfsMenFeelsCertainStarsStruggleLimitsRedStrongerHungerSatisfiedIgnorantIndianThrownAtomsSageBondageThirsty

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“If superstition enters, the brain is gone.”

IfsInspiringBrainGoneSuperstitions

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“If you can get rid of your attachment to a single thing, you are on the way to liberation.”

IfsWayLiberationAttachment

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“Even if our every attempt is a failure, and we bleed and are torn asunder, yet, through all this, we have to preserve our heart - we must assert our Godhead in the midst of all these difficulties.”

IfsHeartDifficultyPreservesMidstTorn

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“Never mind these failures, these little backslidings; hold the ideal a thousand times, and if you fail a thousand times, make the attempt once more.”

IfsMindLittlesFailingThousandIdealsBacksliding

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“We are all the time, from our childhood, trying to lay the blame upon something outside ourselves. We are always standing up to set right other people, and not ourselves. If we are miserable, we say, "Oh, the world is a devil's world." We curse others and say, "What infatuated fools!" But why should we be in such a world, if we really are so good? If this is a devil's world, we must be devils also; why else should we be here? "Oh, the people of the world are so selfish!" True enough; but why should we be found in that company, if we be better? Just think of that.”

PeopleIfsThinkingWorldShouldTryingEnoughFoundCompanyChildhoodFoolDevilStandingOur ChildrenBlameLaysSelfishMiserableCurseInfatuated

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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“The root of evil is in the illusion that we are bodies. This, if any, is the original sin.”

IfsBodyEvilSinIllusionRootsOriginalsHuman BodyOriginal Sin

Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Source: The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

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