50 Inspiring and Motivational Quotes of Swami Vivekananda

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

—Swami Vivekananda

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

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In this article you'll find 50 quotations of Swami Vivekananda.  
☞ Note: this entire website is dedicated to Swami Vivekananda quotes. you may check quotes on other topics clicking on "Contents" section above.

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50 Inspiring And Motivational Quotes

1. 

   All the powers in the universe are already ours.
   

   —Swami Vivekananda

   Image source: Wikimedia Commons

   All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.^[Source]
2. "Arise, awake, sleep no more; within each of you there is the power to remove all wants and all miseries. Believe this, and that power will be manifested. ^[Source]
3. Be free; hope for nothing from anyone. I am sure if you look back upon your lives you will find that you were always vainly trying to get help from others which never came.^[Source]
4. Be not afraid, for all great power throughout the history of humanity has been with the people. From out of their ranks have come all the greatest geniuses of the world, and history can only repeat itself. Be not afraid of anything. You will do marvellous work.^[Source]
5. Be not in despair, the way is very difficult, like walking on the edge of a razor; yet despair not, arise, awake, and find the ideal, the goal.^[Source]
6. Be strong, my young friends; that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita. These are bold words; but I have to say them, for I love you. I know where the shoe pinches.^[Source]
7. Calm and silent and steady work, and no newspaper humbug, no name-making, you must always remember.^[Source]
8. Come out into the broad open light of day, come out from the little narrow paths, for how can the infinite soul rest content to live and die in small ruts? 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.^[Source]
9. Cowards only sin, brave men never, no, not even in mind.^[Source]
10. Do not be afraid of a small beginning. great things come afterwards. Be courageous. Do not try to lead your brethren, but serve them. The brutal mania for leading has sunk many a great ships in the waters of life. Take care especially of that, i.e. be unselfish even unto death, and work.^[Source]
11. Do not figure out big plans at first, but, begin slowly, feel your ground and proceed up and up.^[Source]
12. Do not wait for anybody or anything. Do whatever you can. Build your hope on none.^[Source]
13. Go on bravely. Do not expect success in a day or a year. Always hold on to the highest. Be steady. Avoid jealousy and selfishness. Be obedient and eternally faithful to the cause of truth, humanity, and your country, and you will move the world.^[Source]
14. Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that is what we need.^[Source]
15. Hold on to your own ideal. . . . Above all, never attempt to guide or rule others, or, as the Yankees say, "boss" others. Be the servant of all.^[Source]
16. I hate cowardice; I will have nothing to do with cowards or political nonsense. I do not believe in any politics. God and truth are the only politics in the world, everything else is trash.^[Source]
17. I want each one of my children to be a hundred times greater than I could ever be. Everyone of you must  be a giant— must, that is my word. Obedience, readiness, and love for the cause— if you have these three, nothing can hold you back.^[Source]
18. If you are really my children, you will fear nothing, stop at nothing. You will be like lions. We must rouse India and the whole world. No cowardice. I will take no nay. Do you understand?
19. If you can think that infinite power, infinite knowledge and indomitable energy lie within you, and if you can bring out that power, you also can become like me.^[Source]
20. Infinite patience, infinite purity, and infinite perseverance are the secret of success in a good cause.^[Source]
21. It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light.^[Source]
22. Know that every time you feel weak, you not only hurt yourself but also the cause. Infinite faith and strength are the only conditions of success.^[Source]
23. Let people say whatever they like, stick to your own convictions, and rest assured, the world will be at your feet. They say, 'Have faith in this fellow or that fellow', but, I say, 'Have faith in yourself first'. that's the way.^[Source]
24. Man is born to conquer nature and not to follow it. ^[Source]
25. Man never dies, nor is he ever born; bodies die, but he never dies.^[Source]
26. Neither numbers nor powers nor wealth nor learning nor eloquence nor anything else will prevail, but purity, living the life, in one word, anubhuti, realisation. Let there be a dozen such lion-souls in each country, lions who have broken their own bonds, who have touched the Infinite, whose whole soul is gone to Brahman, who care neither for wealth nor power nor fame, and these will be enough to shake the world.^[Source]

    

    Never think
    there is anything impossible...
    It is the greatest heresy 
    to think so.
    

    —Swami Vivekananda

     Image source: Own creation

    
    

27. Never mind the struggles, the mistakes. I never heard a cow tell a lie, but it is only a cow— never a man. So never mind these failures, these little backslidings;  hold the ideal a thousand times, and if you fail a thousand times, make the attempt once more.
28. Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin ? to say that you are weak, or others are weak.
29. No great work can be achieved by humbug. It is through love, a passion for truth, and tremendous energy, that all undertakings are accomplished.
30. No need for looking behind. FORWARD! We want infinite energy, infinite zeal, infinite courage, and infinite patience, then only will great things achieved.
31. Oh, if only you knew yourselves! You are souls; you are Gods. If ever I feel like blaspheming, it is when I call you man. ^[Source]
32. Pay no attention whatsoever to newspaper nonsense or criticism. Be sincere and do your duty. Everything will come all right. Truth must triumph.
33. Perfect sincerity, holiness, gigantic intellect, and all-conquering will. Let only a handful of men work with these, and the whole world will be revolutionized.
34. Persevere on, my brave lads, We have only just begun. Never despond! Never say enough!
35. Purity, perseverance, and energy— these three I want.
36. Purity, patience and perseverance overcome all obstacles. All great things must of necessity be slow.^[Source]
37. Say, "I can do everything." "Even if poison of a snake is powerless if you can firmly deny it." 
38. Say, "This misery that I am suffering is of my own doing, and that very thing proves that it will have to be undone by me alone."
39. Take courage and work on. Patience and steady work— this is the only way.
40. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, 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, that is way great spiritual giants are produced.
41. "The earth is enjoyed by heroes"— this is the unfailing truth. Be a hero. Always say, "I have no fear".
42. The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength.
43. This is the great fact: strength is life, weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery: weakness is death. 
44. To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. 'I will drink the ocean', says the persevering soul, 'at my will mountains will crumble up.' Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal. 
45. To work with undaunted energy! What fear! Who is powerful enough to thwart you.

    

    Whatever you think,
    that you will be.
    If you think yourselves weak,
    weak you will be; 
    if you think yourselves strong,
    strong you will be
    —Swami Vivekananda
    Image source: Wikimedia Commons

46. Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true. ^[Source]
47. 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.
48. We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.
49. We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise.
50. Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be; if you think yourselves impure, impure you will be; if you think yourselves pure, pure you will be.^[Source]

 

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See also

1. Swami Vivekananda's quotes — Mega collection
2. Swami Vivekananda: Stirring Quotes and Utterances

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