Motivational Quotes from Swami Vivekananda: A Beacon of Spiritual Light from India, Swami Vivekananda played a pivotal role in bringing the richness of Hindu philosophy to the world stage. On the occasion of his birth anniversary, which we also honor as National Youth Day, we commemorate his profound teachings and timeless words. These powerful quotes serve as a wellspring of wisdom, offering inspiration, clarity, and confidence to all who seek it.
Here are the Top Quotes of Swami Vivekananda to lift your spirits and remind you of your greatest potential.
55 Motivational Quotes from Swami Vivekananda
Table of Contents
- “Talk to yourself once in a day, otherwise you may miss meeting an intelligent person in this world.”
- “You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.”
- “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”
- “We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”
- “Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true.”
- “Arise! Awake! And stop not until the goal is reached.”
- “Books are infinite in number and time is short. The secret of knowledge is to take what is essential. Take that and try to live up to it.”
- “Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you but do not think of that now.”
- “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.”
- “That man has reached immortality who is disturbed by nothing material.”
- “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 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.”
- “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.”
- “If money helps 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.”
- “When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state.”
- “Books are infinite in number and time is short. The secret of knowledge is to take what is essential. Take that and try to live up to it.”
- “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 the future can be produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act.”
- “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, and live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, and every part of your body, be full of that idea and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.”
- “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.”
- They alone live, who live for others.”
- “Be not Afraid of anything. You will do Marvelous work. it is Fearlessness that brings Heaven even in a moment.”
- “All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives, he who is selfish is dying. Therefore love for love’s sake, because it is the only law of life, just as you breathe to live.”
- “You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.”
- “Feel nothing, know nothing, do nothing, have nothing, give up all to God, and say utterly, ‘Thy will be done.’ We only dream of this bondage. Wake up and let it go.”
- “External nature is only internal nature writ large.”
- “There is no limit to the power of the human mind. The more concentrated it is, the more power is brought to bear on one point.”
Famous Swami Vivekananda Quotes
- “The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful.”
- “In a day, when you don’t come across any problems – you can be sure that you are travelling in the wrong path”
- “In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart. ”
- “Learn everything that is good from others, but bring it in, and in your own way absorb it; do not become others.”
- “Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true”
- “Whatever you think that you will be. If you think yourself weak, weak you will be; if you think yourself strong, you will be.”
- “Be the servant while leading. Be unselfish. Have infinite patience, and success is yours.”
- “Take risks in your life, If you win, you can lead! If you lose, you can guide!?
- “Experience is the only teacher we have. we may talk and reason all our lives, but we shall not understand a word of truth until we experience it ourselves.”
- “Stand up, be bold, and take the blame on your own shoulders. Do not go about throwing mud at others; for all the faults you suffer from, you are the sole and only cause.”
- “Meditation can turn fools into sages but unfortunately, fools never meditate.”
- “Learn everything that is good from others, but bring it in, and in your own way adsorb it; do not become others.”
- “Comfort is no test of truth. Truth is often far from being comfortable.”
- “Do one thing at a Time, and while doing it put your whole Soul into it to the exclusion of all else.”
- “Anything that makes weak – physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject it as poison.”
- “If I love myself despite my infinite faults, how can I hate anyone at the glimpse of a few faults”..!
- “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea. Let the brain, the body, muscles, nerves, and every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced.”
- “You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”
- “In a day, when you don’t come across any problems – you can be sure that you are travelling on the wrong path.”
- “All power is within you; you can do anything and everything. Believe in that, do not believe that you are weak; do not believe that you are half-crazy lunatics, as most of us do nowadays. You can do anything and everything, without even the guidance of anyone. Stand up and express the divinity within you.”
- “The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves.”
- “If you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.”
- “In a day when you don’t come across any problems, you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path.”
- “The greatest sin is to think yourself weak”
- “Anything that makes weak – physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject it as poison.”
- “Dare to be free, dare to go as far as your thought leads, and dare to carry that out in your life. ”
- “We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far. ”
- “Arise, awake, stop not till the goal is reached.”
- “Each work has to pass through these stages — ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. Those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood.”
- “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, and 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.”
Swami Vivekananda put a strong emphasis on spirituality to raise standards of living. His writings and teachings prominently feature nationalism as a theme. He stressed human development in his teachings since he thought that a nation’s destiny relied on its citizens. In his words, he wished “to set in motion a machinery which will bring the noblest ideas to the doorstep of even the poorest and the meanest.”