Tao Te Ching

The Power of Goodness, the Wisdom Beyond Words
Search Quotes Search Sages Search Chapters

Swami Vivekananda ʃami bibekanɔnd̪o

1863 – 1902 CE

"The maker of modern India"

Patriotic saint and “maker of modern India,” main Ramakrishna disciple, introducer of Vedanta and Yoga into the Western world, important influence on the revival of Hinduism, and force for nationalism in colonial India; Vivekananda taught that all beings are part of a divine self and so serving mankind is the same as serving god. Teaching that all religions and sects within Hinduism are only different paths to the same goal, he saved Hinduism from the irrelevancy of only following antiquated traditions. Gandhi praised him for “cutting down the dead wood of tradition,” Rajaji crediting him for “saving Hinduism,” and Sri Aurobindo said that he “awakened India spiritually.” An inspiration for Aldous Huxley, Nikola Tesla, and Christopher Isherwood; he motivated the establishment of Indian science institutes and universities.

Eras

Unlisted Sources

Quotes by Swami Vivekananda (22 quotes)

“I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance… we accept all religions as true.”

Themes: Hinduism

Comments: Click to comment

“You have to grow from the inside out. No one can teach you, no one can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”

Themes: Teachers

Comments: Click to comment

“In a day when you don't come across any problems - you can be sure that you are traveling in a wrong path”

Comments: Click to comment

“Comfort is no test of truth. Truth is often far from being comfortable”

Themes: Truth

Comments: Click to comment

“The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature, to have faith in yourself.”

Themes: Religion

Comments: Click to comment

“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.”

Themes: Crazy Wisdom

Comments: Click to comment

“The whole life is a succession of dreams. My ambition is to be a conscious dreamer, that is all.”

Themes: Dream

Comments: Click to comment

“You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.”

Themes: Belief

Comments: Click to comment

“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.”

Themes: Love

Comments: Click to comment

“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.”

Comments: Click to comment

“Astrology and all these mystical things are generally signs of a weak mind.”

Themes: Magic

Comments: Click to comment

“All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in our own mind.”

Themes: Mind

Comments: Click to comment

“Do not believe a thing because another man has said it was true. Do not believe in words because they are hallowed by tradition. Find out the truth for yourself.”

Comments: Click to comment

“Where can we go to find God if we cannot see Him in our own hearts and in every living being.”

Themes: God

Comments: Click to comment

“The only religion that ought to be taught is the religion of fearlessness. It is fear that brings misery, fear that brings death, fear that breeds evil. And what causes fear? Ignorance of our own nature.”

Themes: Fear Ignorance

Comments: Click to comment

“Once trained, it is essential that their leader leave them, for without his absence they cannot develop themselves. Plants always remain small under a big tree.”

Comments: Click to comment

“Things do not grow better; they remain as they are. It is we who grow better, by the changes we make in ourselves.”

Themes: Progress

Comments: Click to comment

“Was there ever a more horrible blasphemy than the statement that all the knowledge of God is confined to this or that book? How dare men call God infinite, and yet try to compress Him within the covers of a little book!”

Themes: Golden Chains

Comments: Click to comment

“How often does a man ruin his disciples by remaining always with them?”

Themes: Teachers

Comments: Click to comment

“The Buddhists or the Jains do not depend upon God; but the whole force of their religion is directed to the great central truth in every religion, to evolve a God out of man. They have not seen the Father, but they have seen the Son. And he that hath seen the Son hath seen the Father also.”

Comments: Click to comment

“See Christ, then you are a Christian; all else is talk.”

Themes: Christianity

Comments: Click to comment

“The Buddhists or the Jains do not depend upon God; but the whole force of their religion is directed to the great central truth in every religion, to evolve a God out of man. They have not seen the Father, but they have seen the Son. And he that hath seen the Son hath seen the Father also.



Comments: Click to comment

Quotes about Swami Vivekananda (0 quotes)

Comments (0)