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Inspirational Quotations

by RightAttitudes.com

Inspirational Quotes by Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Monk, Mystic)

Inspirational Quotations by Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Monk, Mystic)

Swāmī Vivekānanda (1863–1902,) born Narendra Nath Datta, is one of the most admired spiritual leaders of India. He was the chief disciple of the 19th-century Hindu mystic Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and the driving force behind the Ramakrishna Mission and Neo-Hinduism.

Born in Calcutta in British India, Swāmī Vivekānanda was an associate of the Brahmo Samāj, a Hindu reform movement, and training to be a lawyer. When he stumbled upon Ramakrishna, Swāmī Vivekānanda had a forceful religious experience and became one of Ramakrishna’s disciples. After his master’s death, he became a saṃnyāsin and founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He became a mendicant, traveled the length and breadth of India on foot, meditating and propagating his interpretation of Ramakrishna’s teachings.

Swāmī Vivekānanda proposed that, underneath their seeming diversity, all religions are one. His appeal for universal tolerance attracted much attention at the Chicago World Parliament of Religions in 1893, where he introduced Hinduism with an inspiring speech that began, “Sisters and brothers of America…, it fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us.”

Swāmī Vivekānanda was a crucial figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedānta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century. He was a significant force in the revival of Hinduism in India and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India.

In India, Swāmī Vivekānanda is widely regarded as the patriot saint of modern India and a source of inspiration. His notable literary works include Karma Yoga (1896,) Raja Yoga (1896,) and The East and the West (1909.)

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Swami Vivekananda

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Inspirational Quotes by Swami Vivekananda (Indian Hindu Monk, Mystic)

Turn thy gaze inward, wherein resides the Supreme Self.
—Swami Vivekananda
Topics: Meditation

There is no help for you outside of yourself; you are the creator of the universe. Like the silkworm you have built a cocoon around yourself…. Burst your own cocoon and come out as the beautiful butterfly, as the free soul. Then alone you will see Truth.
—Swami Vivekananda

All search is vain, until we begin to perceive that wisdom is within ourselves … then we may know the sun is rising, that the morning is breaking for us.
—Swami Vivekananda
Topics: Wisdom

First, believe in the world—that there is meaning behind everything.
—Swami Vivekananda

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.
—Swami Vivekananda

We are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.
—Swami Vivekananda
Topics: Action

Religion as a science, as a study, is the greatest and healthiest exercise that the human mind can have.
—Swami Vivekananda

Every act of love brings happiness; there is no act of love which does not bring peace and blessedness as its reaction.
—Swami Vivekananda

Comfort is no test of truth; on the contrary, truth is often far from being “comfortable”.
—Swami Vivekananda

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.
—Swami Vivekananda

This I have seen in life—those who are overcautious about themselves fall into dangers at every step; those who are afraid of losing honor and respect, get only disgrace; and those who are always afraid of loss, always lose.
—Swami Vivekananda

Religion has no business to formulate social laws and insist on the difference between beings, because its aim and end is to obliterate all such fictions and monstrosities.
—Swami Vivekananda

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

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.
—Swami Vivekananda

All men and women try to make the most of whatever power or advantage they have.
—Swami Vivekananda

Who makes us ignorant? We ourselves. We put our hands over our eyes and weep that it is dark.
—Swami Vivekananda

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.
—Swami Vivekananda

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.
—Swami Vivekananda

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

Take courage and work on. Patience and steady work—this is the only way. Go on. Remember—patience and purity and courage and steady work. So long as you are true and pure, you will never fail. Mother will never leave you. All blessings will be on you.
—Swami Vivekananda

If we really want to be blessed, and make others blessed, we must go deeper. The first step is not to disturb the mind, not to associate with persons whose ideas are disturbing.
—Swami Vivekananda

This life is a hard fact; work your way through it boldly, though it may be adamantine; no matter, the soul is stronger.
—Swami Vivekananda

The highest manifestation of strength is to keep ourselves calm and on our own feet.
—Swami Vivekananda

If working like slaves results in selfishness and attachment, working as master of our own mind gives rise to the bliss of non-attachment.
—Swami Vivekananda

Knowledge can only be got in one way, the way of experience; there is no other way to know.
—Swami Vivekananda

Good Motive, Sincerity and Infinite love can conquer the world. One single soul possessed of these virtues can destroy the dark designs of millions of hypocrites and brutes.
—Swami Vivekananda

We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise.
—Swami Vivekananda

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.
—Swami Vivekananda

Are great things ever done smoothly? Time, patience, and indomitable will must show.
—Swami Vivekananda

Understanding human nature is the highest knowledge, and only by knowing it can we know God. It is also a fact that the knowledge of God is the highest knowledge, and only by knowing God can we understand human nature.
—Swami Vivekananda

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