Even books are nurses, medicines are nurses. But we must work to bring about the time when man shall recognise his mastery over his own body. Herbs and medicines have power over us as long as we allow them; when we become strong, these external methods are no more necessary.
Swami VivekanandaTruth will never come into our minds so long as there will remain the faintest shadow of Ahamkâra (egotism). All of you should try to root out this devil from your heart. Complete self-surrender is the only way to spiritual illumination.
Swami VivekanandaAstrology 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.
Swami VivekanandaThe Buddhists or the Jains do not depend upon God; but the whole force of their religion is directed to the great central truth in every religion, to evolve a God out of man. They have not seen the Father, but they have seen the Son. And he that hath seen the Son hath seen the Father also.
Swami VivekanandaIn a day, when you don't come across any problems - you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path
Swami VivekanandaStamping down the weakness of mind and heart, stand up, saying, "I am possessed of heroism, I am possessed of a steady intellect..." Never allow weakness to overtake your mind.
Swami VivekanandaTalk to yourself atleast once in a Day.. Otherwise you may miss a meeting with an EXCELLENT person in this World.
Swami VivekanandaAll action of Sattva, a modification of Prakriti characterised by light and happiness, is for the soul. When Sattva is free from egoism and illuminated with the pure intelligence of Purusha, it is called the self-centred one, because in that state it becomes independent of all relations.
Swami VivekanandaThis world, this universe which our senses feel, or our mind thinks, is but one atom, so to say, of the Infinite, projected on to the plane of consciousness; and within that narrow limit, defined by the network of consciousness, works our reason, and not beyond. Therefore, there must be some other instrument to take us beyond, and that instrument is called inspiration.
Swami VivekanandaFool indeed is he, who, living on the banks of the Ganga, digs a little well for water. Fool indeed is the man who, coming to a mine of diamonds, begins to search for glass beads.
Swami Vivekananda"Why should I become angry just because another man has made a fool of himself. Do thou resist not evil!" That is what the lovers of God say. Whatever the world does, wherever it goes, has no influence [on them].
Swami VivekanandaThere are hundreds of thousands of microbes surrounding us, but they cannot harm us unless we become weak, until the body is ready and predisposed to receive them.
Swami VivekanandaThrough faithful practice, layer after layer of the mind opens before us, and each reveals new facts to us.
Swami VivekanandaBe strong! Don't 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. Everyone must work out his own salvation.
Swami VivekanandaLife without death and happiness without misery are contradiction and neither can be found alone, because each of them is a different manifestation of the same thing.
Swami VivekanandaMy countrymen should have nerves of steel, muscles of iron, and minds like thunderbolt.
Swami VivekanandaThere is no motion in a straight line. A straight line infinitely projected becomes a circle.
Swami VivekanandaIn the English character, the "give and take" policy, the business principle of the trader, is principally inherent.
Swami VivekanandaThe great Vaishnava religion of India has also sprung from a Tamil Pariah - Shathakopa - "who was a dealer in winnowing-fans but was a Yogin all the while".
Swami VivekanandaThe Self when it appears behind the universe is called God. The same Self when it appears behind this little universe-the body-is the soul.
Swami VivekanandaMy ideal, indeed, can be put into a few words, and that is: to preach unto mankind their divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life.
Swami VivekanandaThat which is nearest is least observed. The Atman is the nearest of the near, therefore the careless and the unsteady mind gets no clue to it. But the person who is alert, calm, self-restrained, and discriminating ignores the external world and, diving more and more into the inner world, realizes the glory of the Atman and becomes great.
Swami VivekanandaIf 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.
Swami VivekanandaYou yourself are to blame. This weeping and wailing and knocking your heads into corners [against brick walls, as it were] will not do you the least good.
Swami VivekanandaA few heart-whole, sincere, and energetic men and women can do more in a year than a mob in a century.
Swami VivekanandaLet 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.
Swami VivekanandaEvery work has got to pass through hundreds of difficulties before succeeding. Those that persevere will see the light, sooner or later.
Swami VivekanandaIs it freedom to be a slave to the senses, to anger, to jealousies and a hundred other petty things that must occur every day in human life?
Swami Vivekananda