Inspirational Essays & Lists (Words to Live By)

Swami Vivekananda Quotes and Thoughts to Help Your Inner Wisdom

Swami Vivekananda Quotes and Thoughts to Help Your Inner Wisdom :

"you cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself."
"The greatest sin is to think that you are weak."
"In one word, this ideal is that you are divine."
"You are the soul, free and eternal, ever free, ever blessed. Have faith enough and you will be free in a minute."
"Take risks in your life, If you win, you can lead! If you lose, you can guide!"
"We are ever free if we would only believe it, only have faith enough."
"Meditation can turn fools into sages but unfortunately fools never meditate."
"The power of concentration is the only key to the treasure-house of knowledge."
"Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached."
"Believe in yourself and the world will be at your feet."
"If superstitions enter, the brain is gone."
"Have faith in yourselves, great convictions are the mothers of great deeds."
"That which is selfish is immoral, and that which is unselfish is moral."
"In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart."
"Whatever you think that you will be.If you think yourself weak, weak you will be; if you think yourself strong, you will be."
"Do one thing at a Time, and while doing it put your whole Soul into it to the exclusion of all else."
"That man has reached immortality who is disturbed by nothing material."
"The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful."
"Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is a sin, this is the only sin; to say that you are weak, or others are weak."
"The cheerful mind perseveres and the strong mind hews its way through a thousand difficulties."
"The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong."
"As different streams having different sources all mingle their waters in the sea, so different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to God."
"The powers of the mind are like the rays of the sun when they are concentrated they illumine."
"If faith in ourselves had been more extensively taught and practiced, I am sure a very large portion of the evils and miseries that we have would have vanished."
"Comfort is no test of truth. Truth is often far from being comfortable."
"The brain and muscles must develop simultaneously. Iron nerves with an intelligent brain- and the whole world is at your feet."
"The mind is but the subtle part of the body. You must retain great strength in your mind and words."
"All truth is eternal. Truth is nobody's property; no race, no individual can lay any exclusive claim to it. Truth is the nature of all souls."
"Truth does not pay homage to any society, ancient or modern. Society has to pay homage to Truth or die."
"Crave for a thing, you will get it. Renounce the craving, the object will follow you by itself."
"Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourself weak, weak you will be; if you think yourself strong, strong you will be."
"Anything that brings spiritual, mental, or physical weakness, touch it not with the toes of your feet."
"Each work has to pass through these stages-ridicule, oppositions, and then acceptance. Those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood."
"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."
"Stand up, be bold, and take the blame on your own shoulders. Do not go about throwing mud at others; for all the faults you suffer from, you are the sole and only cause."
"When you are doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time being."
"Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man."
"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."
"The less passion there is, the better we work. The calmer we are the better for us and the more the amount of work we can do."
"Even the greatest fool can accomplish a task if it were after his or her heart. But the intelligent ones are those who can convert every work into one that suits their taste."
"A few heart-whole, sincere, and energetic men and women can do more in a year than a mob in a century."
"The world is ready to give up its secrets if we only know how to knock, how to give it the necessary blow. The strength and force of the blow come through concentration."
"I, for one, thoroughly believe that no power in the universe can withhold from anyone anything they really deserve."
"First, believe in the world that there is the meaning behind everything."
"Man is to become divine by realizing the divine. Idols or temples, or churches or books, are only the supports, the help of his spiritual childhood."
"Learning and wisdom are superfluities, the surface glitter merely, but it is the heart that is the seat of all power."
"Don't look back-forward, infinite energy, infinite enthusiasm, infinite daring, and infinite patience. Then alone can great deeds be accomplished?"
"Talk to yourself at least once in a day. Otherwise, you may miss a meeting with an excellent person in this world."
"It is the duty of every person to contribute to the development and progress of India."
"Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true."
"Impurity is a mere superimposition under which your real nature has become hidden. But the real you is already perfect, already strong."
"Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time...character has to be established through a thousand stumbles."
"Work and worship are necessary to take away the veil, to lift off the bondage and illusion."
"Take up an idea, devote yourself to it, struggle on in patience, and the sun will rise for you."
"It is the patient building of character, the intense struggle to realize the truth, which alone will tell in the future of humanity.
"We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far."
"Blows are what awaken us & help to break the dream. They show us the insufficiency of this world & make us long to escape, to have freedom."
"Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good. Every action that retards it is evil."
"Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If not, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way."
"Knowledge can only be got in one way, the way of experience; there is no other way to know."
"It is the cheerful mind that is persevering. It is the strong mind that hews its way through a thousand difficulties."
"Fill the brain with high thoughts, highest ideals, place them day and night before you, and out of that will come great work."
"As soon as you know the voice and understand what it is, the whole scene changes. The same world which was the ghastly battlefield of Maya is now changed into something good and beautiful."
"To devote your life to the good of all and to the happiness of all is religion. Whatever you do for your own sake is not religion."
"The Tapas and the other hard Yogas that were practiced in other Yugas do not work now. What is needed in this Yuga is giving, helping others."
"Be not afraid of anything. You will do Marvelous work. It is Fearlessness that brings Heaven even in a moment."
"The fire that warms us can also consume us; it is not the fault of the fire."
"If there is one word that you find coming out like a bomb from the Upanishads, bursting like a bombshell upon masses of ignorance. It is the word of "fearlessness."
"Watch people do their most common actions; these are indeed the things that will tell you the real character of a great person."
"Strength is Life, Weakness is Death, Expansion is Life, Contraction is Death, Love is Life, Hatred is Death."
"Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you, but do not think of that now."
"All differences in this world are of degree, and not of the kind because oneness is the secret of everything."
"This attachment of Love to God is indeed one that does not bind the soul but effectively breaks all its bondage."
"When you are doing any work, Do it as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time being."
"If the student thinks he is the Spirit, he will be a better Student. If the lawyer thinks he is the Spirit, he will be a better Lawyer and so on."
"Be Grateful to the man you help, think of Him as God. It is not a great privilege to be allowed to worship God by helping our fellow men."
"We are allowed to worship him. Stand in that reverent attitude to the whole universe, and then will come perfect non-attachment."
"When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state."
"The more we grow in Love, Virtue, and Holiness, the more we see Love, Virtue, and Holiness outside."
"Are you unselfish? That is the question. If you are, you will be perfect without reading a single religious book, without going to a single church or temple."
"What is now wanted is a combination of the greatest heart with the highest intellectuality, of infinite love with infinite knowledge."
"God is to be worshiped as the one beloved, dearer than everything in this and next life."
"It is the Level-headed Man, the Calm Man, of Good Judgment and cool nerves, of Great sympathy and love, who does good work and so does good to himself."
"All that is real in me is God; all that is real in God is I. The gulf between God and me is thus bridged. Thus by knowing God, we find that the kingdom of heaven is within us."
"Be a here. Always say, I have no fear. Tell this to everyone – Have no fear."
"We came to enjoy; we are being enjoyed. We came to rule; we are being ruled. We came to work; we are being worked. All the time, we find that. And this comes into every detail of our life."
"What the world wants is a character. The world is in need of those whose life is one burning love, selfless. That love will make every word tell like a thunderbolt."
"There is one thing to be remembered: that the assertion – I am God- cannot be made with regard to the sense-world."
"This, I have seen in life – those who are overcautious about themselves fall into dangers at every step. Those who are afraid of losing honor and respect, get only disgrace; and those who are always afraid of loss, always lose."
"Astrology and all these mystical things are generally signs of a weak mind. Therefore as soon as they are becoming prominent in our minds, we should see a physician, take good food, and rest."
"The more we come out and do good to others, the more our hearts will be purified, and God will be in them."
"Fear is death, fear is sin, fear is hell, fear is unrighteousness, and fear is the wrong life. All the negative thoughts and ideas that are in the world have proceeded from this evil spirit of fear."
"I do not want to get material life, do not want the sense-life, but something higher. That is renunciation. Then, by the power of meditation, undo the mischief that has been done."
"If the mind is intensely eager, everything can be accomplished-mountains can be crumbled into atoms."
"Stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creator of your own destiny. All the strength and succor you want is within yourself."
"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."
"Anything that makes you weak physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject it as poison."
"This attachment of Love to God is indeed one that does not bind the soul but effectively breaks all its bondage."
"Talk to yourself once in a day.. otherwise you may miss meeting an excellent person in this world. "