Open Means Open Means
Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda

Country India
Born Monday, 12 January 1863
Category
Quotes 176

About Author

One of the greatest philosophers and divine teachers in India, he was a follower of Swami Ramkrishna Paramahansa. Vivekananda revitalised Hinduism within and outside India. He was the principal reason behind the enthusiastic reception of yoga, transcendental meditation and other forms of Indian spiritual self-improvement in the West

Quotes by Swami Vivekananda

Title Category
Why are people so afraid? The answer is that they have made themselves helpless and dependent on others. We are so lazy, we do not want to do anything ourselves. We want a Personal God, a Savior or a Prophet to do everything for us. Uncategorized
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. Uncategorized
Our first duty is not to hate ourselves, because to advance we must have faith in ourselves first and then in God. Those who have no faith in themselves can never have faith in God. Uncategorized
Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success and, above all, love. Uncategorized
Have you got the will to surmount mountain-high obstructions? If the whole world stands against you sword in hand, would you still dare to do what you think is right? Uncategorized
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 aw the beautiful butterfly, as the free soul. Then alone you will see Truth. Uncategorized
Knowledge can only be got in one way, the way of experience; there is no other way to know. Uncategorized
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. Uncategorized
Nature, body, mind go to death, not we. We neither go nor come. The man Vivekananda is in nature, is born and dies; but the Self we see as Vivekananda is never born and never dies. It is the eternal and unchangeable Reality. Uncategorized
Are you unselfish? That is the question. If you are, you will be perfect without reading a single religious book, without going into a single church or temple. Uncategorized
Look upon every man, woman, and everyone as God. You cannot help anyone, you can only serve: serve the children of the Lord, serve the Lord Himself, if you have the privilege. Uncategorized
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. Uncategorized
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. Uncategorized
Religion as a science, as a study, is the greatest and healthiest exercise that the human mind can have. Uncategorized
Astrology 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. Uncategorized
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. Uncategorized
Impurity is a mere superimposition under which your real nature has become hidden. But the real you is already perfect, already strong. Uncategorized
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. Uncategorized
Perfection does not come from belief or faith. Talk does not count for anything. Parrots can do that. Perfection comes through selfless work. Uncategorized
This is the great lesson that we are here to learn through myriads of births and heavens and hells—that there is nothing to be asked for, desired for, beyond one’s spiritual Self (atman). Uncategorized