Swami Vivekananda Quotes

You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.

We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.

The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.

You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.

All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.

Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.

Arise, awake and do not stop until the goal is reached.

When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state.

Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true.

External nature is only internal nature writ large.

Despondency is not religion, whatever else it may be.

For a warrior, nothing is higher than a war against evil. The warrior confronted with such a war should be pleased, Arjuna, for it comes as an open gate to heaven. But if you do not participate in this battle against evil, you will incur sin, violating your dharma and your honor.

Every idea that strengthens you must be taken up and every thought that weakens you must be rejected.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." This sentence alone would save mankind if all books and prophets were lost. This purity of heart will bring the vision of God. It is the theme of the whole music of this universe. In purity is no bondage. Remove the veils of ignorance by purity, then we manifest ourselves as we really are and know that we were never in bondage. The seeing of many is the great sin of all the world. See all as Self and love all; let all idea of separateness go. . .

The only religion that ought to be taught is the religion of fearlessness. Either in this world or in the world of religion, it is true that fear is the sure cause of degradation and sin. It is fear that brings misery, fear that brings death, fear that breeds evil. And what causes fear? Ignorance of our own nature.

Wherever there is evil and wherever there is ignorance and want of knowledge, I have found out by experience that all evil comes, as our scriptures say, relying upon differences, and that all good comes from faith in equality, in the underlying sameness and oneness of things. This is the great Vedantic ideal.

Beware of compromises. I do not mean that you are to get into antagonism with anybody, but you have to hold on to your own principles in weal or woe and never adjust them to others' "fads" through the greed of getting supporters. Your Âtman is the support of the universe - whose support do you stand in need of? Wait with patience and love and strength; if helpers are not ready now, they will come in time. Why should we be in a hurry? The real working force of all great work is in its almost unperceived beginnings.

Be a hero. Always say, 'I have no fear.' Tell this to everyone - 'Have no fear.'

Do not lower your goals to the level of your abilities. Instead, raise your abilities to the height of your goals.

Who makes us ignorant? We ourselves. We put our hands over our eyes and weep that it is dark.

Truth will never come into our minds so long as there will remain the faintest shadow of Ahamkâra (egotism). All of you should try to root out this devil from your heart. Complete self-surrender is the only way to spiritual illumination.

Never say NO, Never say, 'I cannot', for you are INFINITE. All the power is WITHIN you. You can do anything.

Pay particular attention to your health, but too much coddling of the body will, on the contrary, also spoil the health.

Always keep the mind cheerful. Everyone will die once. Cowards suffer the pangs of death again and again, solely due to the fear in their own minds.

If superstition enters, the brain is gone.

This is no world. It is God Himself. In delusion we call it world.

The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength.

Desire, ignorance, and inequality—this is the trinity of bondage.

That which is selfish is immoral, and that which is unselfish is moral.

Man cannot always think of matter, however pleasurable it may be.

He who has infinite patience and infinite energy at his back, will alone succeed.

So long as even a single dog in my country is without food, my whole religion will be to feed it.

Hinduism is the mother of all religions

No better commentary on the Vedas has been written or can be written.

All the strength and succour you want is within yourselves. Therefore make your own future. "Let the dead past bury its dead." The infinite future is before you.