50 Inspiring and Motivational Quotes of Swami Vivekananda

1) 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.
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.
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.
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 marvelous work.
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.
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.
7) Calm and silent and steady work and no newspaper humbug, no name-
making, you must always remember.
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.
9) Cowards only sin, brave men never, no, not even in mind.
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.
11) Do not figure out big plans at first, but, begin slowly, feel your ground
and proceed up and up.
12) Do not wait for anybody or anything. Do whatever you can. Build your
hope on none.
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.
14) Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that
is what we need.
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.
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.
17) I want each one of my children to be a hundred times greater than I
could ever be. Every one 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.
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.
20) Infinite patience, infinite purity, and infinite perseverance are the secret
of success in a good cause.
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.
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.
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'. Thats the way.
24) Man is born to conquer nature and not to follow it.
25) Man never dies, nor is he ever born; bodies die, but he never dies.
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,
realization. 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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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?
46) Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be
true.
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