Swami Vivekananda

A few heart-whole, sincere, and energetic men and women can do more in a year than a mob in a century.

The awakening of the soul to its bondage and its effort to stand up and assert itself - this is called life.

"The Kingdom of Heaven is within you." Where goest thou to seek for the Kingdom of God, asks Jesus of Nazareth, when it is there, within you? Cleanse the spirit, and it is there. It is already yours. How can you get what is not yours? It is yours by right. You are the heirs of immortality, sons of the Eternal Father.

Have faith in yourselves, great convictions are the mother of great deeds.

All practice or worship is only for taking off this veil. When that will go, you will find that the Sun of Absolute Knowledge is shining in Its own lustre.

The uplift of the women, the awakening of the masses must come first, and then only can any real good come about for the country, for India.

Free thyself from the mighty attraction-_x000D_ _x000D_ The maddening wine of love, the charm of sex._x000D_ _x000D_ Break the harp! Forward, with the ocean's cry!. . .

Desire can be eradicated from the roots by firmly imbibing the four attributes of: Jnan, Atmanishtha, Vairagya, Dharma and the full fledged devotion to God.

Be a hero. Always say, 'I have no fear.' Tell this to everyone - 'Have no fear.'

You see, no one can teach anybody. The teacher spoils everything by thinking that he is teaching. Thus Vedanta says that within man is all knowledge-even in a boy it is so-and it requires only an awakening, and that much is the work of a teacher.

All manifest life seems to require a period of sleep, of calm, in which to gain added strength, renewed vigour, for the next manifestation, or awakening to activity. Thus is the march of all progress, of all manifest life - in waves, successive waves, [of] activity and repose. Waves succeed each other in an endless chain of progression.

When we let loose our feelings, we waste so much energy, shatter our nerves, disturb our minds, and accomplish very little work.

The will is not free - it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind the will which is free.

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.

What we want now is an immense awakening of Râjasika energy, for the whole country is wrapped in the shroud of Tamas. The people of this land must be fed and clothed-must be awakened -must be made more fully active. Otherwise they will become inert, as inert as trees and stones. So, I say, eat large quantities of fish and meat, my boy!

It is always for greater joy that you give up the lesser. This is practical religion-the attainment of freedom, renunciation. Renounce the lower so that you may get the higher. Renounce! Renounce! Sacrifice! Give up! Not for zero. Not for nothing. But to get the higher.

It is the highest manifestation of the power of Vairagya when it takes away even our attraction towards the qualities.

Everything is fraught with fear: Renunciation alone is fearless.

You must be fearless. It is the coward who fears and defends himself

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.

Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time. ... Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.