60 Swami Vivekananda Quotes from His Life and Teachings

These Swami Vivekananda quotes will inspire you to make a positive difference in the lives of other people.

As an Indian Hindu monk, Swami Vivekananda focused his message on service and combining shared messages from different religions.

There are many different religions throughout the world.

Swami Vivekananda was exposed to them throughout his upbringing.

The knowledge that he gained led him to focus his life on trying to make a difference to help others.

He focused on helping those in lower caste systems and encouraging people to serve others.

He focused on a balance of Western progress with Indian spirituality as you’ll see from some of his quotes below.

His words may sound like other knowledgeable leaders throughout history as they have many shared messages.

Be inspired to live your best life by reading these Swami Vivekananda quotes.

Don’t forget to also check out these Leo Buscaglia quotes about love and life.

If you like this article, we suggest you explore our most popular quotes article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily encouragement. 

Check out more inspirational quotes on our motivational quotes category page.

Swami Vivekananda quotes for living life

1. “In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart.” – Swami Vivekananda

2. “Do not wait for anybody or anything. Do whatever you can, build your hope on none.” – Swami Vivekananda

3. “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.” – Swami Vivekananda

4. “Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.” – Swami Vivekananda

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

6. “We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise.” – Swami Vivekananda

7. “If I love myself despite my infinite faults, how can I hate anyone at the glimpse of a few faults.” – Swami Vivekananda

8. “Who is helping you, don’t forget them. Who is loving you, don’t hate them. Who is believing you, don’t cheat them.” – Swami Vivekananda

9. “It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thought make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light.” – Swami Vivekananda

You will also enjoy our article on Krishna quotes.

Knowledgeable Swami Vivekananda quotes

10. “Learn everything that is good from others but bring it in, and in your own way absorb it; do not become others.” – Swami Vivekananda

11. “The difference between architecture and building is that the former expresses an idea, while the latter is merely a structure built on economical principles. The value of matter depends solely on its capacities of expressing ideas.” – Swami Vivekananda

12. “Watch people do their most common actions; these are indeed the things that will tell you the real character of a great person.” – Swami Vivekananda

13. “All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in your own mind.” – Swami Vivekananda

14. “Always try to represent yourself happy because initially, it becomes your look. Gradually it becomes your habit and finally, it becomes your personality.” – Swami Vivekananda

15. “All great undertakings are achieved through mighty obstacles. Keep up the deepest mental poise. Take not even the slightest notice of what puerile creatures may be saying against you.” – Swami Vivekananda

16. “Anything that makes you weak, physically, intellectually, and spiritually, reject as a poison.” – Swami Vivekananda

17. “In a day, when you don’t come across any problems – you can be sure that you are traveling in a wrong path.” – Swami Vivekananda

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

19. “In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart.” – Swami Vivekananda

20. “The reason for every misunderstanding is that we see the people as we are but not as they are.” – Swami Vivekananda

You will also enjoy our article on Bhagavad Gita quotes.

Powerful Swami Vivekananda quotes

21. “If the mind is intensely eager, everything can be accomplished-mountains can be crumbled into atom.” – Swami Vivekananda

22. “Doing good to others is the one great universal religion.” – Swami Vivekananda

23. “Everything that is excellent will come when this sleeping soul is aroused to self-conscious activity.” – Swami Vivekananda

24. “Time is like river. You can’t touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again.” – Swami Vivekananda

25. “He who struggles is better than he who never attempts.” – Swami Vivekananda

26. “All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who we have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.” “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.” – Swami Vivekananda

27. “A few heart-whole, sincere, and energetic men and women can do more in a year than a mob in a century.” – Swami Vivekananda

28. “All the negative thoughts and ideas that are in the world have proceeded from this evil spirit of fear.” – Swami Vivekananda

29. “Let men have light, let them be pure and spiritually strong and educated, then alone will misery cease in the world, not before.” – Swami Vivekananda

Motivational Swami Vivekananda quotes

30. “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 yourself.” – Swami Vivekananda

31. “Take risks in your life. If you win, you can lead, if you lose, you can guide.” – Swami Vivekananda

32. “Never think yourself weak.” – Swami Vivekananda

33. “A man is not poor without a rupee but a man is really poor without a dream and ambition.” – Swami Vivekananda

34. “The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.” – Swami Vivekananda

35. “Arise, awake, and stop not until the goal is achieved.” – Swami Vivekananda

36. “Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time. …Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.” – Swami Vivekananda

37. “Take up one idea, make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it, 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.” – Swami Vivekananda

38. “The more we come out and do good to others, the more our hearts will be purified.” – Swami Vivekananda

39. “Be a hero. Always say, I have no fear.” – Swami Vivekananda

40. “The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful.” – Swami Vivekananda

Thought-provoking Swami Vivekananda quotes

41. “What I want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel, inside which dwells a mind of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made.” – Swami Vivekananda

42. “Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you, but do not think of that now.” – Swami Vivekananda

43. “Have faith enough and you will be free in a minute.” – Swami Vivekananda

44. “Neither seek nor avoid, take what comes.” – Swami Vivekananda

45. “Your body is a weapon and consider it very strong. Consider your mind to be very strong as only with a strong mind and body you will be able to cross the ocean of life. Have strong faith in yourself, your body and mind.” – Swami Vivekananda

46. “So long as there is desire or want, it is a sure sign that there is imperfection. A perfect, free being cannot have any desire.” – Swami Vivekananda

47. “The difference between architecture and building is that the former expresses an idea, while the latter is merely a structure built on economical principles. The value of matter depends solely on its capacities of expressing ideas.” – Swami Vivekananda

48. “According to the law of nature, wherever there is an awakening of a new and stronger life, there it tries to conquer and take the place of the old and the decaying. Nature favors the dying out of the unfit and the survival of the fittest. The final result of such conflict between the priestly and the other classes has been mentioned already.” – Swami Vivekananda

49. “It is only work that is done as a freewill offering to humanity and to nature that does not bring with it any binding attachment.” – Swami Vivekananda

50. “Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success and above all, love.” – Swami Vivekananda

More Swami Vivekananda quotes

51. “Dare to be free, dare to go as far as your thought leads, and dare to carry that out in your life.” – Swami Vivekananda

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

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

54. “The greatest truths are the simplest things in the world, simple as your own existence.” – Swami Vivekananda

55. “There is no limit to the power of the human mind. The more concentrated it is, the more power is brought to bear on one point.” – Swami Vivekananda

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

57. “The Heart and core of everything here is good, that whatever may be the surface waves, deep down and underlying everything, there is an infinite basis of Goodness and Love.” – Swami Vivekananda

58. “The present is determined by our past actions, and the future by the present.” – Swami Vivekananda

59. “There will never be a time when we shall not exist.” – Swami Vivekananda

60. “Stand alone! See the glory of your own soul, and see that you will have to work.” – Swami Vivekananda

What did you learn from these Swami Vivekananda quotes?

If you feel like you’re caught up in always pursuing more and a life of abundance, these quotes may have you thinking about things a little differently.

These quotes can be a reminder of areas in your own life that you need to change your focus or how you can use your life to positively impact those around you.

Don’t be afraid to pursue your ideas and dreams.

Remember, as read above, it’s better to struggle and try than to never have even tried. 

What areas of your life do these Swami Vivekananda quotes and sayings have you thinking about addressing?

Use today to start making progress.