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Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda Quotes

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Famous Swami Vivekananda Quotes

“If you intend to study the mind, you must have systematic training; you must practice to bring the mind under your control, to attain to that consciousness from which you will be able to study the mind and remain unmoved by any of its wild gyrations. Otherwise the facts observed will not be reliable; they will not apply to all people and therefore will not be truly facts or data at all.”

PeopleIfsMindFactsAbleConsciousnessPracticeStudyDisciplineTrainingDataSystematic
Book:Prabuddha Bharata: Or Awakened India
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“All sectarian religions take for granted that all men are equal. This is not warranted by science. There is more difference between minds than between bodies. One fundamental doctrine of Hinduism is that all men are different, there being unity in variety. Even for a drunkard, there are some Mantras-even for a man going to a prostitute!”

MenMindDifferentBodyDifferencesEqualFundamentalsUnityDoctrineGrantedVarietyHinduismMantrasDrunkards
Book:Complete Works
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“Let us realise [that] we are the infinite power. Who put a limit to the power of mind? Let us realise we are all mind. Every drop has the whole of the ocean in it. That is the mind of man. The Indian mind reflects upon these [powers and potentialities] and wants to bring [them] all out. For himself he doesn't care what happens. It will take a great length of time [to reach perfection]. If it takes fifty thousand years, what of that!”

IfsMenWantYearsMindWholeHappensCareThousandLimitsOceanPerfectionInfiniteIndianFiftyLengthRealisingThousand YearsPower Of The MindInfinite PowerHe Doesn't Care
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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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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“Did Buddha teach that the many was real and the ego unreal, while orthodox Hinduism regards the One as the real, and the many as unreal?" the Swami was asked. "Yes", answered the Swami. "And what Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and I have added to this is, that the Many and the One are the same Reality, perceived by the same mind at different times and in different attitudes.”

MindDifferentRealRealityAttitudeTeachEgoRegardOrthodoxHinduismUnrealDifferent TimesDifferent Attitude
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“There is the mind itself. It is like a smooth lake which when struck, say by a stone, vibrates. The vibrations gather together and react on the stone, and all through the lake they will spread and be felt. The mind is like the lake; it is constantly being set in vibrations, which leave an impression on the mind; and the idea of the Ego, or personal self, the "I", is the result of these impressions. This "I" therefore is only the very rapid transmission of force and is in itself no reality.”

MindIdeasSelfRealityTogetherForceFeltResultsEgoStonesSpreadImpressionLakesSmoothRapidsVibrationsTransmissionVibrate
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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“It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thought make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light.”

WorldInspirationalMindWholeLightMotivationalBeautifulAttitudeUglyWhole WorldPositive AttitudeDivinityOur ThoughtsMental AttitudeBad AttitudeThoughts Become Things
Book:Prabuddha Bharata: Or Awakened India
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“I have seen some astrologers who predicted wonderful things; but I have no reason to believe they predicted them only from the stars, or anything of the sort. In many cases it is simply mind-reading. Sometimes wonderful predictions are made, but in many cases it is arrant trash.”

MindBelieveMadeSometimesReasonReadingStarsCasesWonderfulNo ReasonPredictionsWonderful ThingsTrashAstrologyMind Reading
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“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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“We have not faith, we have not patience to see this. We trust the man in the street; but there is one being in the universe we never trust and that is God. We trust Him when He works just our way. But the time will come when, getting blow after blow, the self - sufficient mind will die. In everything we do, the serpent ego is rising up. We are glad that there are so many thorns on the path. They strike the hood of the cobra.”

MenWayMindSelfDiesUniversePathStreetsHe ManEgoPatiencePerseveranceBlowStrikesGladSufficientRisingThornsHoodSerpentNever TrustSelf SufficientRising UpCobrasGod We Trust
Book:The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
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“The greatest force is derived from the power of thought. The finer the element, the more powerful it is. The silent power of thought influences people even at a distance, because mind is one as well as many. The universe is a cobweb; minds are spiders.”

PeopleMindWellsUniverseForcePowerfulInfluenceElementsDistanceSilentSpidersInfluencing PeoplePower Of ThoughtCobwebsSilent Power
Book:Prabuddha Bharata: Or Awakened India
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