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Swami Vivekananda Quotes
1863–1902
Swami Vivekananda (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902) was a teacher of Vedanta philosophy, and one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of Hinduism.
Also known as: Vivekanand swami, Vivekananda, Vivekananda, Swami
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216 quotes
Superstition is our great enemy, but bigotry is worse.
The idea of perfect womanhood is perfect independence.
Despondency is not religion, whatever else it may be.
In one word, this ideal is that you are divine.
There cannot be friendship without equality.
If superstition enters, the brain is gone.
Is there any sex-distinction in the Atman (Self)? Out with the differentiation between man and woman—all is Atman! Give up the identification with the body, and stand up!
This is the great lesson that we are here to learn through myriads of births and heavens and hells—that there is nothing to be asked for, desired for, beyond one’s spiritual Self (atman).
Delusion will vanish as the light becomes more and more effulgent, load after load of ignorance will vanish, and then will come a time when all else has disappeared and the sun alone shines.
The object of the peoples of Europe is to exterminate all in order to live themselves. The aim of the Aryans is to raise all up to their own level, nay, even to a higher level than themselves.
Whenever a prophet got into the superconscious state by heightening his emotional nature, he brought away from it not only some truths, but some fanaticism also, some superstition which injured the world as much as the greatness of the teaching helped.
Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (1915)
Worship of society and popular opinion is idolatry. The soul has no sex, no country, no place, no time.
Soft-brained people, weak-minded, chicken-hearted, cannot find the truth. One has to be free, and as broad as the sky.
Great undertakings are always fraught with many obstacles. It is these obstacles which knock and shape great characters.
To believe blindly is to degenerate the human soul. Be an atheist if you want, but do not believe in anything unquestioningly.
The Self when it appears behind the universe is called God. The same Self when it appears behind this little universe—the body—is the soul.
Even the greatest fool can accomplish a task if it were after his or her heart. But the intelligent ones are those who can convert every work into one that suits their taste.
God is self-evident, impersonal, omniscient, the Knower and the Master of nature, the Lord of all. He is behind all worship and it is being done according to Him, whether we know it or not.
On the advent of Buddhism, Dharma was entirely neglected, and the path of Moksha alone became predominant.
First get rid of the delusion “I am the body,” then only will we want real knowledge.
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