Swami Vivekananda

“Put the good before them, see how eagerly they take it, see how the divine that never dies, that is always living in the human...”

“If in this hell of a world one can bring a little joy and peace even for a day into the heart of a single person, that much alone is true; this I have learnt after suffering all my life; all else is mere moonshine. . . .”

“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. ”

“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.”

“There is no limit to the power of the human mind. The more concentrated it is, the more power is brought to bear on one point”

“All condemnation of others really condemns ourselves. Adjust the microcosm which is in your power to do) and the macrocosm will adjust itself for you.”

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

“This World will always continue to be a mixture of Good and Evil. Our duty is to sympathize with the weak and to Love even the wrongdoer.”

“Do one thing at a Time, and while doing it put your whole Soul into it to the exclusion of all else.”

“Why should a Man be Moral? Because this strengthens his will.”

“The more we grow in Love, Virtue and Holiness, the more we see Love, Virtue and Holiness outside.”

“It is the Level-headed Man, the Calm Man, of Good Judgement and cool nerves, of Great sympathy and love, who does good work and so does good to himself.”

“My Faith is in the Younger Generation, the Modern Generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like Lions.”

“Be Grateful to the Man you help, think of Him as God. Is it not a great privilege to be allowed to worship God by helping our fellow men?”

“By doing well the duty which is nearest to us, the duty which is in our hands, we make ourselves stronger”

“We must be Bright and Cheerful, long faces do not make Religion”

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

“Each work has to pass through these stages—ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. Those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood.”

“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.”

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

“Books are infinite in number and time is short. The secret of knowledge is to take what is essential. Take that and try to live up to it.”

“Be strong! … You talk of ghosts and devils. We are the living devils. The sign of life is strength and growth. The sign of death is weakness. Whatever is weak, avoid! It is death. If it is strength, go down into hell and get hold of it! There is salvation only for the brave. "None but the brave deserves the fair." None but the bravest deserves salvation.”

“Be not afraid, for all great power throughout the history of humanity has been with the people. From out of their ranks have come all the greatest geniuses of the world, and history can only repeat itself. Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvelous work.”

“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.”

“Are you unselfish? That is the question. If you are, you will be perfect without reading a single religious book, without going into a single church or temple.”

“Anything that brings spiritual, mental, or physical weakness, touch it not with the toes of your feet.”

“All who have actually attained any real religious experience never wrangle over the form in which the different religions are expressed. They know that the soul of all religions is the same and so they have no quarrel with anybody just because he or she does not speak in the same tongue.”

“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.”

“All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in our own mind.”

“After every happiness comes misery; they may be far apart or near. The more advanced the soul, the more quickly does one follow the other. What we want is neither happiness nor misery. Both make us forget our true nature; both are chains--one iron, one gold; behind both is the Atman, who knows neither happiness nor misery. These are states, and states must ever change; but the nature of the Atman is bliss, peace, unchanging. We have not to get it, we have it; only wash away the dross and see it.”

“Above all, 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 Atman is the support of the universe—whose support do you stand in need of?”

“A tremendous stream is flowing toward the ocean, carrying us all along with it; and though like straws and scraps of paper we may at times float aimlessly about, in the long run we are sure to join the Ocean of Life and Bliss.”

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

“Where can we go to find God if we cannot see Him in our own hearts and in every living being.”

“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.”

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

“The will is not free - it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind the will which is free.”

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

“The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.”

“Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.”

“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.”

“If money help a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.”

“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.”

“GOD is to be worshipped as the one beloved, dearer than everything in this and next life.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“The whole universe is only the self with variations, one tune made bearable by variations. Sometimes there are discords, but they only make the subsequent harmony more perfect.”

“All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.”