Quote collection
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"We never want Him. We say, "Lord, give me a fine house." We want the house, not Him. "Give me health! Save me from this difficulty!" When a man wants nothing but Him, [he gets Him]."
"Even the lowest of the Hindus, the Pariah, has less of the brute in him than a Briton in a similar social status. This is the result of an old and excellent religious civilization. This evolution to a higher spiritual state is possible only through discipline and education."
"Forget not that thy marriage, thy wealth, thy life are not for sense-pleasure, are not for thy individual personal happiness."
"The world cares little for principles. They care for persons."
"There are the altars, but here is the greatest of altars, the living, conscious human body, and to worship at this altar is far higher than the worship of any dead symbols."
"Motion is always a relative thing. I move in relation to something else. Any particle in this universe can change in relation to any other particle; but take the whole universe as one, and in relation to what can it move? There is nothing besides it. So this infinite Unit is unchangeable, immovable, absolute, and this is the Real Man."
"The progress of the world means more enjoyment and more misery too."
"I remember that grand word of the Katha Upanishad - Shraddhâ or marvellous faith. An instance of Shraddha can be found in the life of Nachiketâ. To preach the doctrine of Shraddha or genuine faith is the mission of my life. Let me repeat to you that this faith is one of the potent factors of humanity and of all religions. First, have faith in yourselves."
"He who wants to become a Bhakta must be strong, must be healthy."
"According to us, there are three things in the makeup of man. There is the body, there is the mind, and there is the soul."
"The guide, the guru, the leader, the teacher, has passed away; the boy, the student, the servant, is left behind."
"Jiva (individual soul) is the conscious ruler of this body, in whom the five life principles come into unity, and yet that very Jiva is the Atman, because all is Atman."
"Religion is the peculiarity of the growth of the Indian mind."
"The sum total or Ishwara may be said to be All-good, Almighty, and Omniscient. These are obvious qualities, and need no argument to prove, from the very fact of totality."
"High achievements in art, music, etc., are the results of concentration."
"Accumulation of power is as necessary as its diffusion, or rather more so."
"Say - i am the Atman in which my lower ego has become merged for ever. Be perfect in this idea; and then as long as the body endures, speak unto others this message of fearlessness: "Thou art That", "Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached!""
"The only way to study the mind is to get at facts, and then intellect will arrange them and deduce the principles."
"We know there is no progress in a straight line."
"It is entirely wrong to think that we have done, or can do, good to the world, or to think that we have helped such and such people. It is a foolish thought, and all foolish thoughts bring misery. We think that we have helped some man and expect him to thank us, and because he does not, unhappiness comes to us. Why should we expect anything in return for what we do? Be grateful to the man you help, think of him as God. Is it not a great privilege to be allowed to worship God by helping our fellow men?"