Quotes by Swami Vivekananda

Vairâgya or renunciation is the turning point in all the various Yogas. The Karmi (worker) renounces the fruits of his work. The Bhakta (devotee) renounces all little loves for the almighty and omnipresent love. The Yogi renounces his experiences, because his philosophy is that the whole Nature, although it is for the experience of the soul, at last brings him to know that he is not in Nature, but eternally separate from Nature. The Jnâni (philosopher) renounces everything, because his philosophy is that Nature never existed, neither in the past, nor present, nor will It in the future.

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

External nature is only internal nature writ large.

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

May He who is the Brahman of the Hindus, the Ahura-Mazda of the Zoroastrians, the Buddha of the Buddhists, the Jehovah of the Jews, the Father in Heaven of the Christians give strength to you to carry out your noble idea.

You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.

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

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.

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

The Vedanta recognizes no sin it only recognizes error. And the greatest error, says the Vedanta is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature, and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that.

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

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.

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.

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.

Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true.

We are what our thoughts have made us so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live they travel far.

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.

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.

“We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on ones own feet.”

“Comfort is no test of truth. Truth is often far from being comfortable.”