Swami Vivekananda Quotes

If you really want to judge the character of a man, look not at his great performances. Watch a man do his most common actions.

Give everything and look for no return.

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.

Only those who want nothing are masters of Nature.

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.

The law of Karma is the law of causation.

Bear in mind, my children, that only cowards and those who are weak commit sin and tell lies. The brave are always moral. Try to be moral, try to be brave, try to be sympathising.

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 test of Ahimsa is absence of jealousy.

Ahimsa (non-killing), truthfulness, purity, mercy, and godliness are always to be kept.

Have faith in yourself, all power is in you, be conscious and bring it out

Watch people do their most common actions; these are indeed the things that will tell you the real character of a great person.

The sky never changes: it is the cloud that is changing.

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.

Neither money pays, nor name pays, nor fame, nor learning; it is CHARACTER that cleave through adamantine walls of difference.

Let new India arise out of peasants' cottage, grasping the plough, out of huts, cobbler and sweeper.

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

The man who becomes angry never does a great amount of work, and the man whom nothing can make angry accomplishes so much.

The Gita is like a bouquet composed of the beautiful flowers of spiritual truths collected from the Upanishads.

Had I lived in Palestine, in the days of Jesus of Nazareth, I would have washed his feet, not with my tears, but with my heart's blood!

Music alone can take you to the Highest!

Nothing else is necessary but these - love, sincerity, and patience.

Stand as a rock; you are indestructible. You are the Self (atman), the God of the universe.

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

There is no virtue higher than non-injury.

Freedom can never be reached by the weak. Throw away all weakness. Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself.

Only by practice and non-attachment can we conquer mind.

Thank God for giving you this world as a moral gymnasium to help your development, but never imagine you can help the world.

The greatest sin is to think yourself weak

If the Absolute becomes limited by the mind, It is no more Absolute; It has become finite.

The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves.

Neither seek nor avoid, take what comes.

A few heart-whole, sincere, and energetic men and women can do more in a year than a mob in a century.

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

Do not hate anybody, because that hatred which comes out from you must, in the long run, come back to you. If you love, that love will come back to you, completing the circle.

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.

Experience is the only teacher we have. We may talk and reason all our lives, but we shall not understand a word of truth until we experience it ourselves.

God is very merciful to those whom He sees struggling heart and soul for spiritual realization. But remain idle, without any struggle, and you will see that His grace will never come.

Do not look back upon what has been done. Go Ahead.

The powers of the mind are like the rays of the sun when they are concentrated they illumine.

The more we come out and do good to others, the more our hearts will be purified, and God will be in them.

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.

Don't look back—forward, infinite energy, infinite enthusiasm, infinite daring, and infinite patience—then alone can great deeds be accomplished.

Blame neither man, nor God, nor anyone in the world. When you find yourselves suffering, blame yourselves, and try to do better.

Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin; to say that you are weak, or others are weak.

Have fire and spread all over. Work, work. Be the servant while leading, be unselfish, and never listen to one friend in private accusing another. Have infinite patience, and success is yours.

Perfection does not come from belief or faith. Talk does not count for anything. Parrots can do that. Perfection comes through the disinterested performance of action.

Say, "I can do everything ." "Even if poison of a snake is powerless if you can firmly deny it."

It is not God's fault. It is our fault that we suffer. Whatever we sow we reap.

Education is not filling the mind with a lot of facts. Perfecting the instrument and getting complete mastery of my own mind [is the ideal of education].