On Occasion of 150 years celebration of Swami Vivekananda Chiefsworld brings you best quotes of Swami Vivekananda Power point, for more powerpoints visit chiefsforum www.chiefsworld.activeboard.com
4. We are suffering from our own karma. It is not the fault of God.
What we do is our own fault, nothing else. Why should God be
blamed?
4
5. We came to enjoy; we are being enjoyed. We came to rule; we are
being ruled. We came to work; we are being worked.All the time,
we find that.And this comes into every detail of our life.
5
6. We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None
else has the blame, none has the praise.
6
7. What is the use of talking of one’s mistakes to the world? They
cannot thereby be undone. For what one has done one must suffer;
one must try and do better. The world sympathizes only with the
strong and the powerful.
7
9. We must be bright and cheerful. Long faces do not make religion.
Religion should be the most joyful thing in the world, because it is
the best.
9
10. Work and worship are necessary to take away the veil, to lift off
the bondage and illusion.
10
11. 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.
11
12. Whenever we attain a higher vision, the lower vision disappears
of itself.
12
13. What the world wants today is twenty men and women who can
dare to stand in the street yonder and say that they possess nothing
but God. Who will go? Why should one fear? If this is true, what
else could matter? If it is not true, what do our lives matter?
13
14. What do you gain in heaven? You become gods, drink nectar, and get
rheumatism. There is less misery there than on earth, but also less
truth.
14
15. Stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on
your own shoulders, and know that you are the creator of your
own destiny.All the strength and succor you want is within
yourselves. Therefore, make your own future.
15
16. Stand as a rock; you are indestructible. You are the Self, the God of
the universe.
16
17. The essence of Vedanta is that there is but one Being and that
every soul is that Being in full, not a part of that Being.
17
18. Truth, purity and unselfishness—wherever these are present, there is
no power below or above the sun to crush the possessor thereof.
Equipped with these, one individual is able to face the whole
universe in opposition.
18
19. Religion is not a theoretical need
but a practicalnecessity.
19
20. Renunciation does not mean simply
dispassion for the world. It means
dispassion for the world and
also longing for God.
20
41. It is man that becomes the god.
The cow never tells a lie,stone never steals
but
Cow remians a cow, stone remains stone
Man steals and man tells a lie, and again
41
42. When even man never hears the
cries of the fool, do you think God will?
42
45. which one can stand on one's own feet.
We want the education by
which character is formed,
strength of mind is increased,
the intellect is expanded, and by
45
46. Let the heart be opened first,
and all else will follow of itself.
46
47. Tell the man his defaults directly
but praise his virtues before others.
47
49. Salvation is not achieved by
inactivity but by spiritual activities.
49
50. Even the least work done for
others awakens the power within.
50
51. New things have to be learned,
have to be introduced and worked out,
But is that to be done by sweeping away
all that is old, just because it is old?
51
52. The man who says he has
nothing more to learn is already
at his last grasp
37
52
54. No one can save a person who
hires a carriage to go from one
street to another, and then complain
of diabetes.
54
55. By the control of the subconscious mind
You get control over the conscious.
55
56. It is the constant struggle against
nature that constitutes human progress,
not conformity with it.
56
57. The very essence of education is
concentration of mind,
not the collecting of facts.
57
58. As we get further and further away
from sense- pleasures,
―knowledge for the sake of knowledge‖
becomes the supreme pleasure of mind
58
59. All the power is within you; you can do
anything and everything. Believe in that;
don’t believe that you are weak. Stand up
and express the divinity with in you
59
61. The soul is the circle of which the
circumference is nowhere,
But the center is the body.
God is a circle whose circumference is
nowhere, but whose center is everywhere.
61
63. If any one of you believes what I teach,
I will be sorry.
I will only be too glad if I can excite in
you the power of thinking for yourselves
63
64. When the world is the end
And god the means to attain that end,
that is material.
When God is the end and the world is
only the means to attain that end,
Spirituality has began
64
65. The fear of God is the beginning
of religion,
but the love of God is the end of
religion
65
67. The sage is often ignorant of
physical science because he reads the
Wrong book – the book within;
and the scientist is too often ignorant of
religion, because he reads the
wrong book- the book without.
67
68. Always first learn to be a servant, and
then you will be fit to be a master. Avoid
this jealousy, and you will do great works
that have yet to be done
68
70. Do one thing at a time and while
doing it put your whole soul into
it to the exclusion of all else.
70
71. Where there is life , there will be death,
so get away from life if you want to get
rid of death
71
72. Records of great spiritual men of the past do
us no good,what ever except
that they urge us onward to do the same
to experience religion ourselves.
72
73. We may read all the Bibles of the world,
But that will not give us religion
73
80. Everything that comes from India take as
true, until you cogent reasons for
disbelieving it,
Everything that come from Europe
Takes as false until
find cogent reasons for believing it.
80
81. Stand up, be bold, be strong. Take
the whole responsibility on your own
shoulders, & know that you are the
creator of your own destiny
81
82. They alone live who live for others,
rest are more dead then alive
82
134. Anything we do ourselves,
That is the only thing we do.-----
134
135. Be cautious now and do not bow,
however sweet the chains .
135
136. Anything that brings spiritual,
mental or physical weakness, touch
it not with the toes of your feet
136
137. Everything that has selfishness
for its basis,
competition as its right hand,
and enjoyment as its goal ,
Must die soonner or later
137
138. This is a battlefield, fight your way out.
Make your life a manifestation of will
strengthened by renunciation.
138
139. Stand and die in your own strength;
if there is any sin in the world, it is
weakness; avoid all weakness, for
weakness is sin, weakness is death
139
162. Face the brutes. That is a lesson for all life—face the
terrible, face it boldly. Like the monkeys, the hardships
of life fall back when we cease to flee before them.
162
163. It is religion, the inquiry into the beyond,
That makes the difference between man
And animal
163
164. Dare to be free, dare to go as far
as your thought leads, and dare
to carry that out in your life
164
165. Every idea that strengthens you
must be taken up and every
thought that weakens you must be rejected
165
166. The same fire that cooks a meal for us
May burn a child and it is no fault of the
Fire if it does so,
The difference lies in the way in which it is used
166
168. The moment you quarrel , you are not
Going God ward, you are going backward
Towards the brutes
168
169. First learn to obey,
The command will come by itself.
169
170. If there is any sin in the world,
It is weakness
Avoid all weakness,for weakness is sin,
Weakness is death
170
171. The earth is enjoyed by heroes —this‖ is the unfailing truth.
Be a hero.Always say, ―I have no fear.
171
172. Atremendous stream is flowing toward the ocean, carrying us all
along with it; and though like straws and scraps of paper we may
at times float aimlessly about, in the long run we are sure to join
the Ocean of Life and Bliss.
172
173. All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the
mind; the infinite library of the universe is in our own mind.
173
174. In other countries great priests try to
trace their descent to some king,
But here the greatest Kings would trace
Their descent to some ancient priest
174
175. We as Vedantists, know for certain
That there is no power in the universe to
To injure us unless we first injure ourselves.
175
176. Faith, faith, faith in ourselves,
Faith, faith in the – God
This is the secret of greatness
155
176
177. To have the ideal is one thing,
and to apply it practically to the
Details of daily life is quite another thing
177
178. One ounce of practice is worth twenty
thousand tons of big talk.
178
179. Let not your work produce results for you,
and at the same time may you be never without
work.
179
180. Religion is not in books ,nor in theories,
Nor in dogmas, nor in talking,
not even in reasoning.
It is being and becoming
180
181. This atman is not to reached by too much talk,
no,
not even by the
highest intellect, no,
Not even by the study of veds themselves
181
182. Whoever has dared to touch our
literature has felt the bondage, and is
there bound for ever.
161
182
183. If you have assimilated five ideas and made
Them your life and character,
You have more education than any man who
Has got by heart whole library
183
184. Fill the brain with high thoughts, highest ideals, place them day
and night before you, and out of that will come great work.
184
185. Fear is death, fear is sin, fear is hell, fear is unrighteousness, fear is
wrong life.All the negative thoughts and ideas that are in the world
have proceeded from this evil spirit of fear.
185
186. Do not look back upon what has been done. Go ahead!
186
191. The weak have no place here, in this life or any other life.
Weakness leads to slavery. Weakness leads to all kinds of misery,
physical and mental. Weakness is death.
191
192. The first sign that you are becoming religious is that you are
becoming cheerful.
192
194. Stand as a rock; you are indestructible. You are the Self, the God
of the universe.
194
195. Put God behind everything—human beings, animals, food, and
work. Make this a habit
195
196. Mind you, this is life's experience: if you really want the good of
others, the whole universe may stand against you and cannot hurt
you. It must crumble before your power of the Lord Himself in
you if you are sincere and really unselfish.
196
197. It is the cheerful mind that is persevering. It is the strong mind
that hews its way through a thousand difficulties.
197
198. Have faith in Guru, in his teachings, and in the surety that you can
get free. Think day and night that this universe is zero, only God is.
Have intense desire to get free.
198
199. God is not to be reached by the weak. Never be weak. You have
infinite strength within you. How else will you conquer anything?
How else will you come to God?
199
200. Come out into the broad 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?
200
201. 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.
201
202. Be strong! Don’t talk of ghosts and devils. We are the living devils.
The sign of life is strength and growth. The sign of death is
weakness. Whatever is weak, avoid! It is death. If it is strength, go
down into hell and get hold of it! There is salvation only for the
brave.
202
203. Be brave! Be strong! Be fearless! Once you have taken up the
spiritual life, fight as long as there is any life in you. Even though
you know you are going to be killed, fight till you ―are killed.‖
Don’t die of fright. Die fighting. Don’t go down till you are
knocked down.
203
204. 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.
204
205. 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.
205
206. Him I call a Mahatma ("great soul") whose heart bleeds for the
poor, otherwise he is a Duratma ("wicked soul"). Let us unite our
wills in continued prayer for their good.
206
207. All truth is eternal. Truth is nobody’s property; no race, no
individual can lay any exclusive claim to it. Truth is the nature of
all souls.
207
208. No good comes out of the man
Who day night thinks he is nobody
164
208
209. Follies there are,weakness there must be,
But remember your real nature
Always – that is the only way to cure the
Weakness,that is the only way to cure the
Follies.
209
210. Everything in this life is fraught with fear.
It is renunciation alone that makes one
fearless
210
211. The true man is he who is strong
As streangth itself and possesses a woman’s
heart
211
212. Verily, these three are rare to obtain and
Come only through the
Grace of God –human birth,
Desire to obtain Moksha,
And the company of the
Great – souled ones.
212
213. Why should you feel ashamed to
Take the name of Hindu , which is your
greatest and most glorious possession
This religion is so great that even a little
of it brings a great amount of it
213
224. First form character ,
First earn spirituality
And results will come of themselves.
180
224
225. If we sit down and lament over the
imperfection of our bodies and minds,
we profit nothing;
It is the heroic endeavor to subduce
adverse circumstances that carries our
spirit upwards
225
226. Truth, purity and unselfishness – wherever
these are present,
There is no power below or above the sun
to crush the possessor thereof.
182
226
227. No claim is made by the doer of great deeds,
Only by lazy worthless fools.
227
235. And if this Maya is so beautiful,think of
the wondrous beauty of the reality behind it.
235
236. For one thing we may be grateful;
This life is not eternal.
192
236
237. When the mind tries to think of anything else,
give it a hard blow, so that it may turn around and
think of God.
237
238. If I am impure, that is also of my
own making and that very thing
shows that I can be pure if I will.
238
239. Stand and die in your own strength;
If there is any sin in the world,
It is weakness;
Avoid all weakness,for weakness is sin,
239
240. I do not know whether I succeed or not,
but it is a great thing to take up a grand ideal in life and
then give up one’s whole life to it
240
241. To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous
will. "I will rink 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.
241
242. In the west, they are trying to solve the
Problem how much a man can possess,
And we are trying here to solve the problem
on how little a man can live
242
243. It is the change of the soul itself for
the better that alone will cure the
evils of the world
199
243
244. Teach yourself, teach every one
his real nature, call upon the sleeping
Soul and see how it awakes
244
245. Power will come, glory will come,
Goodness will come,purity will come,
And everything that is excellent will
come,when this sleeping soul is roused to
self conscious activity
245
249. Is it such a bad choice in this world to think
Not of matter but of spirit,not of man but of God?
249
250. If you attempt to get the secular knowledge
Without religion,I tell you plainly,vain is your
attempt
250
251. Anything that makes you weak physically,
Intellectually, and spiritually, reject as poison;
There is no life in it,it cannot be true
251
252. To talk of evil and misery is nonsense, because they do not exist
outside. If I am immune against all anger, I never feel angry. If I
am proof against all hatred, I never feel hatred.
252
253. Love opens the most impossible gates;
The gate to all the secrets of the universe.
253
259. If a man goes towards what is false,
It is because he can’t get what is true
259
260. Knowledge is the finding of unity in Diversity, and
the highest point in every science is reached when
it finds the underlying unity in all variety
260
261. Obey the scriptures until you are not
Strong enough to do without them.
261
262. Watch people do their most common
Actions;
these are indeed the things that will tell you
the real character of a great person.
262
263. Until a man becomes prophet,
Religion is a mockery
263
264. Be not in despair, The way despair not;
arise, awake, and find the ideal, yet the goal
is very difficult, like walking on the blade of
a razor
264
265. Death is better than a vegetating ignorant life,
It is better to die on the battlefield than to
live a life of defeat
265
266. When you find yourseleves suffering,
Blame yourselves, and try to do better
266
267. The highest direction is that
which takes us to God;
Every other direction is lower
267
268. Understand my words in their
True spirit and apply yourselves to work
In their light.
268
269. I want the why of everything.
I leave the how to children.
269
270. Your country requires heroes;
be heroes;
your duty is to go on working, and then
everything will follow of itself
270
271. Take up one idea, make that one idea your
life, think of it, dream of it, live of it, let the
brain, muscle, nerves, every part of your
body be full of that idea and just leave
every other idea alone. This is the way
great spiritual giants are produced, others
are mere talking machines
271
272. You must have an iron will if you would
cross the ocean. You must be strong enough
to pierce mountains
272
273. Nature wants us to react, to return blow
for blow, cheating for cheating, lie for lie,
to hit back with all our might, then it
requires a super divine power not hit back,
to keep control, to be unattached
273
274. Misery comes through attachment, not
through work.As soon as we identify
ourselves with work we do, we feel
miserable; but if we don’t identify ourselves
with it, we do not feel that misery
274
275. ―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.‖
275
276. Three things are necessary to make
every man great, every nation great
1. Conviction of the powers of
goodness
2. Absence of jealousy and
suspicion
3. Helping all who are trying to be
and do good
276
280. They alone live who live for others, rest are
more dead then alive
280
281. 226
All the power is within you; you can do
anything and everything. Believe in that; don’t
believe that you are weak. Stand up and express
the divinity with in you
281
282. What ever you think, that you will be. If you
think yourself weak, weak you will be; if you
think yourself strong; strong you will be
282
283. He is an atheist who does not believe in
himself. The old religion said that he was an
atheist who does not believe in God. The new
religion says that he is an atheist who does not
believe in himself
283
284. Help if you can; if you cannot, fold your
hands and stand by and see things go on.
Do not injure, if you cannot render help
284