Swami Vivekananda on Teachers and Teaching: It is an insult to a starving people to offer them religion; it is an insult to a starving man to teach him metaphysics. The whole gist of this teaching is that you should work like a master and not as a slave; work incessantly, but do not do … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Truth: Man is not travelling from error to truth, but from truth to truth, from lower to higher truth. Love, truth, and unselfishness are not merely moral figures of speech, but they form our highest ideal, because in them lies such a manifestation of power. And what is truth? That I am … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Strength: The only way to rise is by doing the duty next to us, and thus gathering strength go on until we reach the highest state. The infinite strength of the world is yours. Drive out the superstition that has covered your minds. Let us be brave. Know the Truth and practice … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Religion: We know that all religions alike, from the lowest fetishism to the highest absolutism, are but so many attempts of the human soul to grasp and realise the Infinite. It is an insult to a starving people to offer them religion; it is an insult to a starving man to teach … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Love: Love unselfishly for love’s sake. Love, truth, and unselfishness are not merely moral figures of speech, but they form our highest ideal, because in them lies such a manifestation of power. Every act of love brings happiness; there is no act of love which does not bring peace and blessedness as … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Mind: All knowledge, therefore, secular or spiritual, is in the human mind. Like fire in a piece of flint, knowledge exists in the mind. Work, but let not the action or the thought produce a deep impression on the mind. Working as master of our own mind gives rise to the bliss … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Intellect: Intellect can never become inspired; only the heart when it is enlightened, becomes inspired. An intellectual, heartless man never becomes an inspired man. Follow the heart. A pure heart sees beyond the intellect; it gets inspired; it knows things that reason can never know, and whenever there is conflict between the … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Attachment: Be “unattached”; let things work; let brain centres work; work incessantly, but let not a ripple conquer the mind. To attain this unattachment is almost a life-work. Attachment comes only where we expect a return. If working like slaves results in selfishness and attachment, working as master of our own mind … Read more
Swami Vivekananda on Misery: All thought of obtaining return for the work we do hinders our spiritual progress; nay, in the end it brings misery. Never will unhappiness or misery come through work done without attachment. Misery comes through attachment, not through work. As soon as we identify ourselves with the work we do, we … Read more