Vivekananda
"Arise Awake and Stop not til the goal is reached"
Vivekananda left a body of philosophical works (see Vivekananda's complete works). His books (compiled from lectures given around the world) on the four Yogas (Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga) are very influential and still seen as fundamental texts for anyone interested in the Hindu practice of Yoga. His letters are of great literary and spiritual value. He was also considered a very good singer and a poet.By the time of his death, He had composed many songs including his favorite Kali the Mother. He used humor for his teachings and was also an excellent cook. His language is very free flowing. His own Bengali writings stand testimony to the fact that he believed that words - spoken or written - should be for making things easier to understand rather than show off the speaker or writer's knowledge.
Swami Vivekananda [ স্বামী বিবেকানন্দ ] (1863 – 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, and bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion.
Born in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India (present-day Kolkata, West Bengal, India)
“The greatest sin is to think yourself weak”
“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.”
“In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart.”
“Neither seek nor avoid, take what comes.”
“Be not Afraid of anything. You will do Marvelous work. it is Fearlessness that brings Heaven even in a moment.”
“Learn Everything that is Good from Others, but bring it in, and in your own way absorb it; do not become others.”
“The earth is enjoyed by heroes”—this is the unfailing truth. Be a hero. Always say, “I have no fear.”
“You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.”
“The fire that warms us can also consume us; it is not the fault of the fire.”
“Feel nothing, know nothing, do nothing, have nothing, give up all to God, and say utterly, 'Thy will be done.' We only dream this bondage. Wake up and let it go.”
“All power is within you; you can do anything and everything. Believe in that, do not believe that you are weak; do not believe that you are half-crazy lunatics, as most of us do nowadays. You can do any thing and everything, without even the guidance of any one. Stand up and express the divinity within you.”
“Arise, awake, stop not till the goal is reached.”
“Was there ever a more horrible blasphemy than the statement that all the knowledge of God is confined to this or that book? How dare men call God infinite, and yet try to compress Him within the covers of a little book!”
“Comfort is no test of truth. Truth is often far from being comfortable.”
“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.”
“In a day, when you don't come across any problems - you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path”
“The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves.”
“Anything that makes weak - physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject it as poison.”
“They alone live, who live for others.”
“Strength is Life, Weakness is Death.Expansion is Life, Contraction is Death.Love is Life, Hatred is Death.”
“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”
“All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore love for love's sake, because it is the only law of life, just as you breathe to live.”
“Dare to be free, dare to go as far as your thought leads, and dare to carry that out in your life.”