Swami Vivekananda

“The greatest religion is to be true to this life, to make the most of it.”

“Arise! Awake! And stop not until the goal is reached.”

“You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.”

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life — think of it, dream of it, 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.”

“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.”

“The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves.”

“Strength is life, weakness is death.”

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

“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”

“In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart.”

“The whole secret of existence is to have no fear. Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moment you reject all help are you free.”

“Anything that makes you weak — physically, intellectually, and spiritually, reject as poison.”

“Do one thing at a time, and while doing it put your whole soul into it to the exclusion of all else.”

“Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true.”

“External nature is only internal nature writ large.”

“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 differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.”

“Be free, hope for nothing from any one. 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.”

“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”