Swami Vivekananda Quotes

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.

Manushya (man) is a being with Manas (mind); and as soon as his thinking power goes, he becomes no better than an animal.

God is present in every Jiva; there is no other God besides that. Who serves Jiva serves God indeed.

Om is the pointed piece and Dhyâna (meditation) is the friction.

The fire that warms us can also consume us; it is not the fault of the fire.

There is only one Soul in the Universe. There is no 'you' or 'me'; all variety is merged into the absolute unity, the one infinite existence - God.

The sum total of all the cells in an organism is one person; so each soul is like one cell and the sum of them is God, and beyond that is the Absolute.

Devotion to duty is the highest form of worship of God.

This caste system had grown by the practice of the son always following the business of the father.

The guiding motive of mankind should be charity towards men, charity towards all animals.

Take courage and work on. Patience and steady work- this is the only way.

Please everyone without becoming a hypocrite or a coward.

Oh, if only you knew yourselves! You are souls; you are Gods. If ever I feel like blaspheming, it is when I call you man.

The test of progress is the amount of renunciation that one has attained.

Whatever you believe, that you will be. If you believe yourselves to be sages, sages you will be tomorrow. There is nothing to obstruct you.

The perfect man sees nothing but God.

Be moral. Be brave. Be a heart-whole man, strictly moral, brave unto desperation. Don't bother your head with religious theories. Cowards only sin, brave men never, no, not even in mind.

Every work has got to pass through hundreds of difficulties before succeeding. Those that persevere will see the light, sooner or later.

Let us make our hearts as big as an ocean, to go beyond all the trifles of the world and see it only as a picture. We can then enjoy the world without being in any way affected by it.

When death is so certain, it is better to die for a good cause.

In one word, this ideal is that you are divine.

Bless people when they revile you. Think how much good they are doing by helping to stamp out the false ego.

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

"Face the brutes." That is a lesson for all life-face the terrible, face it boldly. Like the monkeys, the hardships of life fall back when we cease to flee before them.

Let him who has courage in his mind and love in his heart come with me. I want none else.

Let there be as little materialism as possible, with the maximum of spirituality.

If you are pure, if you are strong, you, one man are equal to the whole world.

Unselfishness is more paying, only people have not the patience to practice it.

The way to God is the opposite to that of the world. And to few, very few, are given to have God and mammon at the same time.

Man makes the mistake of separating himself from God and identifying himself with the body.

Learning and wisdom are superfluities, the surface glitter merely, but it is the heart that is the seat of all power.

The happiest is the man who is not at all selfish.

Tell the truth boldly, whether it hurts or not. Never pander to weakness. If truth is too much for intelligent people and sweeps them away, let them go; the sooner the better.

So long as there is desire or want, it is a sure sign that there is imperfection. A perfect, free being cannot have any desire.

Man is born to conquer nature and not to follow it.

"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all good things will be added unto you." Follow God and you shall have whatever you desire.

As body, mind, or soul, you are a dream; you really are Being, Consciousness, Bliss (satchidananda). You are the God of this universe.

Have faith in yourselves, great convictions are the mother of great deeds.

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.

So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them.

The secret of image - worship is that you are trying to develop your vision of Divinity in one thing.

Self-love is the first teacher of self-renunciation.

Education is the manifestation of perfection already existing in man.

All objective pleasure in the long run must bring pain, because of the fact of change or death.

True religion comes not front the teaching of men or the reading of books; it is the awakening of the spirit within us, consequent upon pure and heroic action.

The moment you fear, you are nobody.

Change is always in regard to something which does not change, or which changes relatively less.

There is nothing beyond God, and the sense enjoyments are simply something through which we are passing now in the hope of getting better things.

We must patiently practice every day.

If I, as an Oriental have to worship Jesus of Nazareth, there is only one way, that is, to worship him as God and nothing else.