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Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda Quotes

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Famous Swami Vivekananda Quotes

“This world is not for cowards. Do not try to fly. Look not for success or failure. Join yourself to the perfectly unselfish will and work on. Know that the mind which is born to succeed joins itself to a determined will and perseveres. You have the right to work, but do not become so degenerate as to look for results. Work incessantly, but see something behind the work. Even good deeds can find a man in great bondage. Therefore be not bound by good deeds or by desire for name and fame. Those who know this secret pass beyond this round of birth and death and become immortal.”

KnowsMenWorldTryingMindLooksDesireNamesBornResultsSecretBehindsThis WorldBirthFameSucceedPatiencePerseveranceBoundsRoundsDeedsDeterminedImmortalCowardGood DeedsBondagePersevereDegeneratesUnselfishIncessantlyBirth And DeathSuccess Or Failure
Book:Work and Its Secret
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“This is a world of good and evil. Wherever there is good, evil follows, but beyond and behind all these manifestations, all these contradictions, the Vedanta finds out that Unity. It says, "Give up what is evil and give up what is good." What remains then? Behind good and evil stands something which is yours, the real you, beyond every evil, and beyond every good too, and it is that which is manifesting itself as good and bad. Know that first, and then and then alone you will be a true optimist, and not before; for then you will be able to control everything.”

KnowsWorldGivingFirstsRealAbleEvilBehindsGiving UpRemainsUnityVery GoodManifestationContradictionGood And EvilManifestOptimistGood And BadVedantaReal YouGood Evil
Book:Vivekananda Reader
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“The wind is blowing; those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their way, but those which have their sails furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind? Is it the fault of the merciful Father, whose wind of mercy is blowing without ceasing, day and night, whose mercy knows no decay, is it His fault that some of us are happy and some unhappy? We make our own destiny. His sun shines for the weak as well as for the strong. His wind blows for saint and sinner alike. He is the Lord of all, the Father of all, merciful, and impartial.”

KnowsWayWellsNightFatherStrongLordDestinySunWindWeakMercyShiningFaultsSaintBlowUnhappySinnerDecaySailVesselDay And NightMercifulSun ShinesSaints And Sinners
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“That intense faith in another world, that intense hatred for this world, that intense power of renunciation, that intense faith in God, that intense faith in the immortal soul, is in you. I challenge anyone to give it up. You cannot. You may try to impose upon me by becoming materialists, by talking materialism for a few months, but I know what you are; if I take you by the hand, back you come as good theists as ever were born. How can you change your nature?”

IfsKnowsWorldGivingTryingMaySoulHandsBornChallengesTalkingThis WorldMonthsBecomingHatredIntenseImmortalMaterialismFaith In GodAnother WorldRenunciationTheistImmortal Soul
Author:Swami Vivekananda
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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
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“In Tibet there is no marriage, and there is no jealousy, yet we know that marriage is a much higher state. The Tibetans have not known the wonderful enjoyment, the blessing of chastity, the happiness of having a chaste, virtuous wife, or a chaste, virtuous husband. These people cannot feel that. And similarly they do not feel the intense jealousy of the chaste wife or husband, or the misery caused by unfaithfulness on either side, with all the heart-burnings and sorrows which believers in chastity experience. On one side, the latter gain happiness, but on the other, they suffer misery too.”

PeopleKnowsFeelsHeartStatesSufferingSidesKnownMarriageWifeWonderfulHigherSorrowBlessingHusbandGainsMiseryBelieverIntenseBurningEnjoymentLatterVirtuousChastityTibetanChasteTibetUnfaithfulness
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“Hold to the idea, "I am not the mind, I see that I am thinking, I am watching my mind act," and each day the identification of yourself with thoughts and feelings will grow less, until at last you can entirely separate yourself from the mind and actually know it to be apart from yourself.”

ThinkingKnowsMindIdeasFeelingsInspirationLastsGrowsPracticeMeditationEach DayIdentificationThoughts And Feelings
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“Give up, renounce the world. Now we are like dogs strayed into a kitchen and eating a piece of meat, looking round in fear lest at any moment some one may come and drive them out. Instead of that, be a king and know you own the world. This never comes until you give it up and it ceases to bind. Give up mentally, if you do not physically. Give up from the heart of your hearts”

IfsKnowsWorldGivingHeartMayMomentsPiecesDogKingsGiving UpEatingRoundsCeaseMeatKitchenRenounceRenunciation
Book:Personality Development
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“The goal of mankind is knowledge ... Now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge.”

KnowsMenShouldSoulLanguageGoalMankindMinesInfinitePsychologicalInherentStrictInfinite Knowledge
Book:Prabuddha Bharata: Or Awakened India
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“The devil comes in many guises-anger in the form of justice-passion in the form of duty. When it first comes, the man knows and then he forgets. Just as your pleaders' conscience; at first they know it is all Badmashi (roguery), then it is duty to their clients; at last they get hardened.”

KnowsMenFirstsLastsFormPassionJusticeForgetHe ManDutyDevilConscienceAngerClientsGuiseHardened
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“The difference between God and the devil is in nothing except in unselfishness and selfishness. The devil knows as much as God, is as powerful as God; only he has no holiness that makes him a devil. Apply the same idea to the modern world: excess of knowledge and power, without holiness, makes human beings devils.”

KnowsWorldHumansIdeasDifferencesHuman BeingsPowerfulModernDevilSelfishnessHolinessExcessModern WorldUnselfishnessKnowledge And Power
Book:Vivekananda, World Teacher: His Teachings on the Spiritual Unity of Humankind
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“Every atom is trying to go and join itself to the next atom. Atoms after atoms combine, making huge balls, the earths, the suns, the moons, the stars, the planets. They in their turn, are trying to rush towards each other, and at last, we know that the whole universe, mental and material, will be fused into one.”

KnowsTryingWholeEarthLastsTurnsUniverseNextStarsSunPlanetsMaterialsHugeMoonBallsAtoms
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“Every atom is working and resisting every thought in the mind. Everything we see and know is but the resultant of these two forces.”

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Book:The Complete Works of the Swami Vivekananda, Comprising All His Lectures, Addresses and Discourses Delivered in Europe, America and India: All His Writings in Prose and Poetry, Together with Translations of Those Written in Bengali and Sanskrit; Reports of His Interviews and His Replies to the Various Addresses of Welcome; His Sayings and Epistles,--private and Public--original and Translated; with an Index; Carefully Revised & Edited
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“Today the West is awakening to its wants; and the "true self of man and spirit" is the watchword of the advanced school of Western theologians. The student of Sanskrit philosophy knows where the wind is blowing from, but it matters not whence the power comes so longs as it brings new life.”

KnowsMenWantSelfMatterPhilosophyTodaySchoolSpiritStudentsWindWestWesternAwakeningTrue SelfNew LifeTheologianSanskrit
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“Do you know this Sanskrit Shloka: "Let those who are versed in the ethical codes praise or blame, let Lakshmi, the goddess of Fortune, come or go wherever she wisheth, let death overtake him today or after a century, the wise man never swerves from the path of rectitude." Let people praise you or blame you, let fortune smile or frown upon you, let your body fall today or after a Yuga, see that you do not deviate from the path of Truth.”

PeopleKnowsMenBodyTodayFallPathWiseCenturyPraiseBlameFortuneYour BodyCodeDo You KnowEthicalGoddessDeviateSanskritRectitudeSwerveLakshmi
Author:Swami Vivekananda
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“After every happiness comes misery; they may be far apart or near. The more advanced the soul, the more quickly does one follow the other. What we want is neither happiness nor misery. Both make us forget our true nature; both are chains-one iron, one gold; behind both is the Atman, who knows neither happiness nor misery. These are states, and states must ever change; but the nature of the Atman is bliss, peace, unchanging. We have not to get it, we have it; only wash away the dross and see it.”

KnowsWantMayDoeSoulStatesPeaceForgetBehindsGoldMiseryChainsBlissIronTrue NatureUnchangingAtmanDross
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“You all know that certain things are necessary to make a religion. First of all, there is the book. The power of the book is simply marvellous! Whatever it be, the book is the centre round which human allegiance gathers. Not one religion is living today but has a book. With all its rationalism and tall talk, humanity still clings to the books. In your country every attempt to start a religion without a book has failed. In India sects rise with great success, but within a few years they die down, because there is no book behind them. So in every other country.”

KnowsYearsFirstsHumansStillsBookCountryTodayCertainHumanityDiesBehindsIndiaRoundsTallOther CountriesCentreAllegianceSectsGreat SuccessRationalismMarvellous
Author:Swami Vivekananda
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“Preaching has always been the business of the Asiatics. The Western people are grand in organisation, social institutions, armies, governments, etc.; but when it comes to preaching religion, they cannot come near the Asiatic, whose business it has been all the time, and he knows it, and he does not use too much machinery.”

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Book:Practical Vedanta Philosophy
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