Swami Vivekananda, a spiritual idol for millions, devoted his life to contemplation. In his entire journey, he kept himself away from worldly pleasures. We present to you a collection of some all-time famous quotes by Swami Vivekananda in this Quotabulary article.
Swami Vivekananda suffered from many ailments in his life span. Malaria, diabetes, and asthma were a few of them. However, nothing deterred him from his vision. His motto in life was, “One has to die…it is better to wear out than to rust out.”
Very little do we know about the life of this powerful man who won the hearts galore. Swami Vivekananda, known as Narendra Nath Datta in his childhood was born on 12th day of January in the year 1863 at Kolkata, India. He was born to an educated family and showed altruistic behavior right from a very young age. It was certainly because of the poetic teachings from his parents Vishwanath Datta and Bhuvaneshwari Devi that his demeanor was shaped with such righteousness that his benevolence was quite apparent through his actions.
Swami Vivekananda had an enormous inclination towards spirituality and the existence of god. As he plunged into this life of contemplation, he adopted a rationale behavior in reviving and promoting Hinduism in India. Although this great personality died in the year 1902, his teachings continue to spread knowledge and enlighten people. Let us know his vision and thoughtfulness through his famous saying about life, god, fear, and love.
Inspirational Quotes by Swami Vivekananda
“In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart.”
“Anything that makes weak – physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject it as poison.”
“Strength is the sign of vigor, the sign of life, the sign of hope, the sign of health, and the sign of everything that is good. As long as the body lives, there must be strength in the body, strength in the mind, strength in the hand.”
“All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in your own mind.”
“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”
“If the mind is intensely eager, everything can be accomplished-mountains can be crumbled into atom.”
“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.”
“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.”
“You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.”
“Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature , external and internal. Do this either by work , or worship or psychic control or philosophy – by one or more or all of these and be free.”
“The varieties of religious belief are an advantage, since all faiths are good, so far as they encourage us to lead a religious life. The more sects there are, the more opportunities there are for making a successful appeal to the divine instinct in all of us.”
“A few heart-whole, sincere, and energetic men and women can do more in a year than a mob in a century.”
“Who is Helping You, Don’t Forget them.
Who is Loving you, Don’t Hate them.
Who is Believing you, Don’t Cheat them.”
“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.”
“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”
“If you want to have life, you have to die every moment for it. Life and death are only different expressions of the same thing looked at from different standpoints; they are the falling and the rising of the same wave, and the two form one whole.”
“In a day, when you don’t come across any problems – you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path.”
“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.”
“I am the thread that runs through all these pearls,” and each pearl is a religion or even a sect thereof. Such are the different pearls, and God is the thread that runs through all of them; most people, however, are entirely unconscious of it.”
“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.”
“Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea. Let the brain, the body, muscles, nerve… … Let the brain, the body, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced.”
“In a day, when you don’t come across any problems – you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path.”
“This life is a hard fact; work your way through it boldly, though it may be adamantine; no matter, the soul is stronger.”
“They alone live, who live for others.”
Swami Vivekananda’s Quotes On Work
“Perfection does not come from belief or faith. Talk does not count for anything. Parrots can do that. Perfection comes through selfless work.”
“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.”
“This life is a hard fact; work your way through it boldly, though it may be adamantine; no matter, the soul is stronger.”
“Be perfectly resigned, perfectly unconcerned; then alone can you do any true work. No eyes can see the real forces; we can only see the results. Put out self, forget it; just let God work, it is His business.”
“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.”
“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. When we let loose our feelings, we waste so much energy, shatter our nerves, disturb our minds, and accomplish very little work.”
“Every individual is a center for the manifestation of a certain force. This force has been stored up as the resultant of our previous works, and each one of us is born with this force at our back.”
“Fill the brain with high thoughts, highest ideals, place them day and night before you, and out of that will come great work.”
“Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time. … Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.”
Swami Vivekananda’s Quotes About God
“Come out into the universe of light. Everything in the universe is yours. Stretch out your arms and embrace it with love. If you ever felt you wanted to do that, you have felt God.”
“God is to be worshipped as the one beloved, dearer than everything in this and next life.”
“Those who work at a thing heart and soul not only achieve success in it but through their absorption in that they also realize the supreme truth-Brahman. Those who work at a thing with their whole heart receive help from God.”
Swami Vivekananda’s Quotes On Love
“Stand upon the Self, only then can we truly love the world. Take a very high stand; knowing our universal nature, we must look with perfect calmness upon all the panorama of the world.”
“Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success and, above all, love.”
“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.”
“What the world wants is 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.”
“All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life.”
Swami Vivekananda’s Quotes On Fear
“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you freed.”
“Fear is death, fear is sin, fear is hell, fear is unrighteousness, fear is wrong life. All the negative thoughts and ideas that are in the world have proceeded from this evil spirit of fear.”
“Be not Afraid of anything. You will do Marvelous work. it is Fearlessness that brings Heaven even in a moment.”
“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 “fearlessness.”
“Be a hero. Always say, ‘I have no fear.'”
“As long as we believe ourselves to be even the least different from God, fear remains with us; but when we know ourselves to be the One, fear goes; of what can we be afraid?”
“Dare to be free, dare to go as far as your thought leads, and dare to carry that out in your life.”