Call to Nation
By
Swami Vivekananda
1.
He is an
atheist who does not believe in himself. The old religions said that he was an
atheist who did not believe in God. The new religion says that he is an atheist
who does not believe in himself. CW II 301
2.
The history of
the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves. That faith
calls the divinity within. You can do anything. You fail only when you do not
strive sufficiently to manifest infinite power. As soon as a man or a nation
loses faith, death comes. CW VIII 228
3.
Faith, faith,
faith in ourselves, faith, faith in God, this is the secret of greatness. If
you have faith in all the three hundred and thirty millions of your
mythological Gods, and in all the Gods which foreigners have now and again
introduced into your midst, and still
have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for
you. CW III 190
4.
Never think there
is anything impossible for the soul. It is greatest hearsay to think so. If
there is sin, this is the only sin - to say that you are weak, or others are
weak. CW II 308
5.
Be free; hope for
nothing from anyone. I am sure, if you look back upon your lives, you will find
that you were always trying to get help from others, which never came. All the
help that has come was from within yourselves. CW II 324
6.
Never say, ‘No’,
never say, ‘I cannot’, for you are infinite. Even time and space are as nothing
compared with your nature. You can do anything and everything, you are
almighty. CW II 300
7.
Ye are the
children of God, the sharers of immortal bliss, holy and perfect beings. Ye
divinities on earth – sinners! It is a sin to call a man so; it is a standing
libel on human nature. Come up, O lions, and shake off the delusion that you
are sheep; you are souls immortal, spirits free blest and eternal. CW I 11
8.
Never mind the
struggles, the mistakes. I never heard a cow tell a lie, but it is only a cow –
never a man. So never mind these failures, these little backslidings; hold the
ideal a thousand times; and if you fail a thousand times make the attempt once
more. CW II 152
9.
The remedy for
weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men of
strength that is already within them. CW II 300
10.If
there is one word you find coming like a bomb from the Upanishads, bursting
like a bomb-shell upon masses of ignorance, it is the word, fearlessness.
CW III 160
11.If
you look, you will find that I have never quoted anything but the Upanishads.
And of the Upanishads, it is only that one idea, strength. The quintessence of
the Vedas and Vedanta and all lies in that word. CW VIII 267
12.Be
strong, my young friends, that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to
heaven through football than through study of the Gita. These are bold
words, but I have to say them, for I love you. I know where the shoe pinches. I
have gained a little experience. You will understand the Gita better with your
biceps, your muscles, a little stronger. CW III 242
13.This
is one question I put to every men…..Are you strong? Do you feel strength? –
for I know it is the truth alone that gives strength…….Strength is the medicine
for the world’s disease. CW II 201
14.This
is great fact; Strength is life; weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life
eternal, immortal; weakness is constant strain and misery, weakness is
death. CW II 3
15.To
succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. ‘I will drink
the ocean’, says the persevering soul, ‘at my will, mountains will crumble up.’
Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the
goal. CW I 178
16.Men,
men, these are wanted; everything else will be ready, but strong, vigorous,
believing young men, sincere to the backbone, are wanted. A hundred such and
the world become revolutionized. CW III 223-24
17.Are
not drums made in the country? Are not trumpets and kettle-drums available in
18.Death
is better than a vegetating ignorant life; it is better to die on the
battle-field than to live a life of defeat. CW II 124
19.Come,
do something heroic, Brother, what if you do not attain mukti, what if
you suffer damnation a few times? Is the saying untrue: ‘There are some saints
who, full of holiness in thought, word, and deed, please the whole world by
their numerous beneficent acts, and who develop their own hearts by magnifying
an atom of virtue in others as if it were as great a mountain.’ CW VI 314-5
20.Can
anything be done unless everybody exerts himself to his utmost? ‘It is the man
of action, the lion-heart that the Goddess of Wealth resorts to.’ No need of
looking behind. FORWARD! We want infinite energy, infinite zeal, infinite courage,
and infinite patience, then, only will great things be achieved.
CW
VI 383-84
21.Be
not in despair; the way is very difficult, like walking on the edge of a razor;
yet despair not, arise, awake, and find the ideal, the goal. CW II 124
22.Why
weepest thou, brother? There is neither death, nor disease for thee. Why
weepest thou, brother? There is neither misery, nor misfortune for thee. Why
weepest thou, brother? Neither change nor death was predicted of thee. Thou art
Existence Absolute. …… Be your own self. CW V 275
23.Let
people say whatever they like, stick to your own convictions, and rest assured,
the world will be at your feet. They say, ‘have faith in this fellow, or that
fellow’, but I say, ‘Have faith in yourself – all power is in you – be
conscious and bring it out. Say, ‘I can do everything’. ‘Even the poison of
snake is powerless, if you can firmly deny it.’ CW VI 274
24.Once
when I was in
25.Stand
up and fight! Not one step, back, that is the idea. Fight it out, whatever
comes. Let the stars move from the spheres! Let the whole world stand against
us! Death means only a change of garment. What of it? Thus fight! You gain
nothing by becoming cowards. Taking a step backward, you do not avoid any
misfortune. You have cried to all Gods in the world. Has miseries ceased? ….The
Gods come to help you when you have succeeded. So what is the use? Die game.
You are infinite, deathless, birthless. Because you are infinite spirit, it
does not befit you to be a slave. Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! CW I 461
26.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 alone. This is the way to success. ….. If we really want to be
blessed, and make others blessed, we must go deeper. CW I 177
27.All
the great prophets, saints, and the seers of the world – what did they do? In
one span of life, they lived the whole life of humanity, traversed the whole
length of time that it takes the ordinary humanity to come to perfection. In
one life, they perfect themselves; they have no thought for anything else,
never live a moment for any other idea, and thus the way is shortened for them.
This is what is meant by concentration, intensifying the power of assimilation,
thus shortening the time. CW I 157
28.The
more this power of concentration, the more knowledge is acquired, because this
is the one and only method of acquiring knowledge. Even the lowest shoeblack,
if he gives more concentration, will black shoes better; the cook with concentration
will cook a meal all the better. In making money, or in worshipping God, or in
doing anything, the better the power of concentration, the better will that
thing be done. This is the one call, the one knock, which opens the gates of
nature, and lets out the floods of light. CW II 391
29.How
has all the knowledge in the world been gained but the concentration of the
powers of mind? The world is ready to give its secrets, if we only know how to
knock, how to give it the necessary blow. The strength and force of the blow
come through concentration. There is no limit to the power of the human mind.
The more concentration it is, the more power is brought to bean on one point;
that is the secret. CW I 130-31
30.No
force can be created; it can only be directed. Therefore, we must learn to
control the grand powers that are already in our hands, and by will power make
them spiritual, instead of animal. Thus it is clearly seen that chastity is the
cornerstone of all morality and of all religions. CW VIII 46
31.Free!
We, who cannot, for a moment, govern our own minds, nay, cannot hold our minds
on a subject, focus, it on a point to the exclusion of everything else, for a
moment! Yet we call ourselves free. Think of it!.....The mind uncontrolled and
unguided will drag us down, down, forever - rend us, kill us; and the
mind controlled and guided will save us, free us. CW VI 30
32.The
main difference between men and the animals is the difference in their power of
concentration. All success in any line of work is the result of this. ….. The
difference in the power of concentration also constitutes the difference
between man and man. Compare the lowest with the highest man. The difference is
in the degree of concentration. CW VI 37
33.Ninety
percent of thought-force is wasted by the ordinary human being, therefore he is
constantly committing blunders; the trained man or mind never makes a mistake. CW
VI 123-24
34.What
work you do except from the men of little hearts? Nothing in the world! You
must have an iron will if you would cross the ocean. You must be strong enough
to pierce mountains. CW VI 297
35.Good
and evil thoughts are each a potent power, and they fill the universe. As
vibration continues, so thought remains in the form of thought until translated
into action. For example, force is latent in the arm until he strikes a blow,
when he translates it into activity. We are the heirs of good and evil thought.
If we make ourselves pure and the instruments of good thoughts, these will
enter us. The good soul will not be receptive to evil thoughts. CW VI 134
36.In
the history of mankind, you will find that there come Messengers, and that from
their very birth there mission is found and formed. The whole plan is there,
laid down; and you see them swerving not one inch from that. Because they come
with a mission, they come with a message, ….. When they speak, each word
is direct; it bursts like a bomb-shell. What is in the word, unless it has the
Power behind? What matters is what language you speak, and how you arrange your
language? What matters it whether you speak correct grammar or with fine
rhetoric? What matters it whether your language is ornamental or not? The
question is: Whether or not you have anything to give? It is a question of
giving and taking, and not listening. Have you anything to give? – that is the
first question. If you have, then, give. CW VI 122-23-24
37.Whatever
you do, devote your whole mind, heart and soul to it. I once met a great
sannyasi, who cleansed his brass cooking utensils, making them shine like gold,
with as much care and attention as he bestowed on his worship and meditation. Life
p284
38.How
to attain purity living this life? Shall we all go to the forest caves? What
good it would do? If the mind is not under control, it is no use living in a
cave because the same mind will bring disturbances there. We will find twenty
devils in the cave because all the devils are in mind. If the mind is under
control, we can have the cave anywhere, wherever we are. It is our own mental
attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thoughts make things
beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds.
Learn to see things in proper light. CW I 440-41
39.What
do I care if Mohammed was a good man, or Buddha! Does that alter my
own goodness or evil? Let us be good for our own sake and our own
responsibility! Not because somebody way back there was good! Rem. p.273
40.We
are responsible for what we are, and whatever we wish ourselves to be, we have
the power to make ourselves. If what we are now has been the result of our own
past actions, it certainly follows that whatever we wish to be in future can be
produced by our present actions; so we have to know how to act. CW
I 31
41.This
human body is the greatest body in the universe, and the human being the
greatest being. Man is higher than all animals, than all angels; none is
greater than man. CW 1 142
42.Man is man, so long as he is struggling to rise above nature, and his nature is both internal and external. …….
And if we read the history of nations between the lines, we shall always find
that the rise of a nation comes with an increase in the number of such men; and
the fall begins when the pursuit after the Infinite, however vain the
Utilitarian may call it, has ceased. That is to say, the mainspring of the
strength of every race lies in its spirituality, and the death of that race
begins the day that spirituality wanes and materialism gains ground. CW II
64-65
43.This
world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves
strong. CW V 410
44.All
healthy social changes are the manifestations of the spiritual forces working
within, and if these are strong and well adjusted. Society will arrange itself
accordingly. Each individual has to work out his own salvation; there is no
other way, and so also with nations. ….. It is very easy to point out the
defects of institutions, all being more or less imperfect, but he is the real
benefactor of humanity who helps the individual to overcome his imperfections
under whatever institutions he may live. The individuals being raised, the
nation and its institutions are bound to rise. CW V 415-16
45.You
have to grow from inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual.
There is no other teacher but your own soul. CW V 410
46.Men
in general lay all the blame of life on their fellowmen, or, failing that, on
God, or they conjure up a ghost, and say it is fate. Where is fate, and who is
fate? We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None else has the
blame, none has the praise. The wind is blowing; and those vessels whose sails
are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their way, but those which have their
sails furled do not catch the wind. Is the fault of the wind? CW II 224
47.Say,
‘This misery that I am suffering is of my own doing, and that very thing proves
that it will have to be undone by me alone.’ That which I created, I can
demolish; that which is created by someone else, I shall never be able to
destroy. Therefore, 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 yourselves. CW II 225
48.Make
your own future. ‘Let the dead past bury its dead.’ The infinite future is
before you, and you must always remember that each word, thought and deed lays
up a store for you, and that as the bad thoughts and bad works are ready to
spring upon like tigers, so also there is the inspiring hope that the good
thoughts and good deeds are ready with the power of hundred thousand angels to
defend you always and for ever. CW II 225
49.‘Ours
not to reason why, ours but to do and die.’ Be of good cheer and believe that
we are selected by the Lord to do great things, and we will do them. CW V 23
50.Unfortunately,
in this life, the vast majority of persons are groping through this dark life
without any ideal at all. If a man with an ideal makes a thousand mistakes, I
am sure that the man without an ideal makes fifty thousand. Therefore, it
is better to have an ideal. CW II 152
51.Man
begins to struggle and fight against nature. He makes many mistakes, he
suffers. But eventually, he conquers nature and realizes his freedom. When he
is free, nature becomes his slave. CW VII 249
52.I
disagree with the idea that freedom is obedience to the law of nature. I do not
understand what that means. According to history of human progress, it is
disobedience to nature that has constituted that progress. CW VIII 257
53.For
the world can be good and pure, only if our lives are good and pure. It is an
effect, and we are the means. Therefore, let us purify ourselves. Let us make
ourselves perfect. CW II 9
54.What
is the use of fighting and complaining? That will not help us to better things.
He who grumbles at the little thing that has fallen to his lot to do, will
grumble at everything. Always grumbling, he will lead a miserable life, and
everything will be a failure. But that man who does his duty as he goes,
putting his shoulder to the wheel, will see the light, and higher and higher
duties will fall to his share. CW
V 242
55.Do
not fly away from the wheels of the world-machine, but stand aside it and learn
the secret of work. Through proper work done inside, it is also possible to
come out. CW I 115
56.Every
thought that we think, every deed we do, after a, certain becomes fine, goes
into seed form, so to speak, and lives in the fine body in a potential form,
and after a time, it emerges again and bears its results. These results
condition the life of man. Thus he moulds his own life. Man is not bound by any
laws excepting those which he makes for himself. CW II 348
57.My
ideal, indeed, can be put into a few words, and that is: to preach unto mankind
their Divinity, and how to make it manifest in every movement of life. CW
VII 498
58.Purity,
patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success, and above all –
love. CW VI 281
59.Life
is ever expanding, contraction is death. The self-seeking man who is looking
after his personal comforts and leading a lazy life – there is no room for him
even in hell. CW VI 294
60.I
am sure God will pardon a man who will use his reason and cannot believe,
rather than a man who believes blindly instead of using his faculties He has
given him. ……. We must reason; and when reason proves to us the truth of these
prophets and great men and about whom the ancient books speak in every country,
we shall believe in them. We shall believe in them when we see such prophets
among ourselves. We shall then find that they were not peculiar men, but only
illustrations of certain principals. CW VI 12-13
61.Why
should you not try to hit the mark? We become wiser through failures. Time is
infinite. Look at the wall. Did the wall ever tell a lie? It is always the
wall. Man tells a lie – and becomes a God, too. It is better to do something;
never mind even if it proves to be wrong; it is better than doing nothing. The
cow never tells a lie; but she remains a cow, all the time. Do something! CW
IV 126-27
62.Go
on doing good, thinking holy thoughts continuously, that is the only way to
suppress base impressions. Never say any man is hopeless, because he only
represents a character, a bundle of habits, which can be checked by new and
better ones. Character is repeated habits, and repeated habits alone can reform
character. …. The chaste brain has tremendous energy and gigantic will power. CW
I 208,263
63.We
can overcome the difficulty by constant practice. We must learn that nothing
can happen to us, unless we make ourselves susceptible to it. CW II 7
64.I
was once traveling in the
65.‘It
is the coward and the fool who says, “This is my fate”’ – so says the Sanskrit
proverb. But it is the strong man who stands up and says, ‘I will make my own
fate’. It is people who are getting old who talk of fate. Young men generally
do not come to astrology. CW VIII 184
66.If
you really want to judge the character of a man, look not at his great
performances. Every fool may become a hero at one time or another. Watch a man
do his most common actions; those are indeed the things which will tell you the
real character of a great man. Great occasions rouse even the lowest of human
beings to some kind of greatness, but he alone is the really great man whose
character is great always, the same wherever he be. CW I 29
67.Every
good thought that we send to the world, without thinking of any return, will be
stored up there and break one link in the chain, and make us purer and purer,
until we become the purest of mortals. CW I 116
68.If
you project hatred and jealousy, they will rebound on you with compound interest.
No power can avert them; when once you put them in motion, you will have to
bear them. Remembering this will prevent you from doing wicked things. CW
I 262
69.Everything
is conscious which rebels against nature: there, consciousness is manifested.
Just try to kill a little ant, even it will once resist to save its life. Where
there is struggle, where there is rebellion, there is the sign of life, their
consciousness is manifested. CW VI 453
70.Isn’t
it man that makes money? Where did you ever hear of money making man? If you
can make your thoughts and words perfectly at one, if you can, I say, make
yourself one in speech and action, money will pour in at your feet of itself,
like water. CW VI 455
71.The
road to the Good is the roughest and steepest in the universe. It is a wonder
that so many succeed, no wonder that so many fall. Character has to be
established through a thousand stumbles. CW VIII 382
72.Each
work has to pass through these stages – ridicule, opposition, and then
acceptance. Each man who thinks ahead of his time is sure to be misunderstood.
So the opposition and persecution are welcome, only I have to be steady and
pure and must have immense faith in God, and all these will vanish. CW V 91
73.Each
soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by
controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship,
or psychic control, or philosophy – by one, or more, or all of these – and be
free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books,
or temples, or forms, are but secondary details. CW I 257
74.Each
one thinks his method is best. Very good! But remember, it may be good for you.
One food which is very indigestible to one is very digestible to another.
Because it is very good for you, do not jump to the conclusion that your method
is everybody’s method, that Jack’s coat fits John and Mary. All the uneducated,
uncultured, unthinking men and women have been put into that sort of strait
jacket! Think for yourselves. Become atheists! Become materialists! That would
be better. Exercise the mind! What right, have you to say that this man’s
method is wrong? It may be wrong for you. That is to say, if you undertake the
method, you will be degraded; but that does not mean that he will be degraded.
Therefore, if you have knowledge and see a man weak, do not condemn him. Go to
his level and help him if you can. He must grow. I can put five bucket-fuls of
knowledge into his head in five hours. But what good will it do? He will be a
little worse than before. CW I 470
75.Go
and preach to all: ‘Arise, awake, sleep no more; within each of you, there is
power to remove all wants and all miseries. Believe this, and that power will
be manifested.’ …… If you can think that infinite power, infinite knowledge,
and indomitable energy lie within you, and if you can bring out that power, you
also can become like me. CW VI 454
76.Education
is the manifestation of the perfection already in man. CW IV 358
77.What
is education? Is it book-learning? No. Is it diverse knowledge? Not even that.
The training by which the current and expression of will are brought under
control and become fruitful is called education. CW IV 400
78.To
me the very essence of education is concentration of mind, not the collecting
facts. If I had to do my education over again, and had any voice in the matter,
I would not study facts at all. I would develop the power of concentration and
detachment, and then with a perfect instrument I could collect facts at
will. CW VI 38-39
79.The
education which does not help the common mass of people to equip themselves for
the struggle for life, which does not bring out strength of character, a spirit
of philanthropy, and the courage of a lion – is it worth the name? Real
education is that which enables one to stand on his, own legs. CW VII 147-48
80.Education
is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot
there, undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making,
character-making, assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and
made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who has
got by heart a whole library. CW III 302
81.Knowledge
is inherent in man; no knowledge comes from outside; it is all inside. …. We
say
82.Every
one wants to command, and no one wants to obey; and this is owing to the
absence of that wonderful brahmacharya system of yore. First, learn to
obey. The command will come by itself. Always first learn to be a servant and
then you will be fit to be a master. CW III 134-35
83.Education,
education, education, education alone! Traveling through many cities of
84.What
we want is the shraddha. Unfortunately, it has nearly vanished from
85.Give
up the awful disease that is creeping into our national blood, that idea of
ridiculing everything, that loss of seriousness. Give that up. Be strong and
have this shraddha, and everything else is bound to follow. CW III
320
86.The
only service to be done for our lower classes is to give them education, to
develop their lost individuality. ……. Give them ideas – that is the only help
they require, and then the rest must follow as the effect. Ours is to put the
chemicals together, the crystallization comes in the law of nature. ….. Now if
the mountain does not come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to mountain. If the
poor boy cannot come to education, education must go to him. CW IV 362-63
87.We
want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased,
the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one’s own feet.
CW V 342
88.Is
that education, as a result of which the well being continuously choked by
force through generations, is now well-nigh killed out; under whose sway, why
mention new ideas, even the old ones are disappearing one by one; is that
education which is slowly making man a machine? It is more blessed, in my
opinion, even to go wrong, impelled by one’s free will and intelligence, than
to be good as an automation. CW IV 490
89.What
we want are western science coupled with Vedanta, brahmacharya as the
guiding motto, and also shraddha and faith in one’s own self. …..
Vedanta says that within man is all knowledge – even in a boy it is so – and it
requires only awakening, and that much is the work of a teacher. …… But the
root is religion. Religion is as rice, and everything else, like the curries.
Taking only curries causes indigestion, and so is the case with taking rice
alone. CW V 366
90.Do
you see, simply by observance of strict brahmacharya (continence), all learning
can be mastered in a very short time – one has an unfailing memory of what one
hears or knows but once. It is owing to this want of continence that everything
is on the brink of ruin in our country. CW VII 224
91.My
idea of education is personal contact with the teacher – gurugraha-vasa.
Without the personal life of a teacher, there should be no education. Take your
universities, what have they done during the fifty years (this was said in
1897) of their existence? They have not produced one original man. They are
merely examining body. The idea of the sacrifice for the common weal is not yet
developed in our nation. CW VI 224
92.Truth does not pay homage to any society, ancient and modern. Society
has to pay homage to Truth or die. Societies
should be molded upon the truth, and truth has not to adjust itself to the
society. …. That society is the greatest, where the highest truths become
practical. That is my opinion; and society is not fit for the highest
truths, make it so; and the sooner, the better. CW II 84-85
93.I
say, liberate, undo the shackles of people as much as you can. ….. When you
would be able to sacrifice all desire for happiness for the sake of society,
then you would be the Buddha, then you would be free. CW VI 491
94.94.
Three things are necessary to make ever man great, every nation great.
1. Conviction of the powers of goodness. 2. Absence of jealousy
and suspicion. 3. Helping all who are trying to be and do good. CW VII
29
95. 95
If your ideal is matter, matter shalt thou be. Behold! Our ideal is the Spirit.
That alone exists. Nothing else exists, and like Him, we live fore ever. CW
VIII 72
96.The
Hindu man drinks religiously, sleeps religiously, walks religiously, marries
religiously, robs religiously. …… Each nation has a mission for the world. So
long as that mission is not hurt, that nation lives, despite every difficulty.
But as soon as its mission is destroyed, the nation collapses. CW VIII
74-75
97.Do
you not find in history, that the first death sign of a nation has been
unchastity? When that has entered, the end of the race is in sight. CW
II 101
98.Now
we are not much more moral than the animals. We are only held down by the whips
of society. If society said today. ‘I will not punish you if you steal’, we
should just make a rush for each other’s property. It is the policeman that
makes us moral. It is social opinion that makes us moral, and really, we are
little better than animals. CW II 164
99.The
majority of sects will be transient, and last only as bubbles, because the
leaders are not usually men of character. Perfect love, the heart never
reacting, this is what builds character. There is no allegiance possible where
there is no character in the leader, and perfect purity ensures the most lasting
allegiance and confidence. Take up an idea, devote yourself to it, struggle on
in patience, and the sun will rise for you. CW VI 135
100.
We are asked:
What good is your religion to society? Society is made a test of truth. Now
this is very illogical. Society is only a stage of growth through which we are
passing. ….. If the social state were permanent, it would be the same as if the
baby remained a baby. There can be no perfect man-baby; the words are a
contradiction in terms, so there can be no perfect society. Man must and will
grow out of such early stages. …… My Master used to say, ‘Why don’t you help
your own lotus flower to bloom? The bees will then come of themselves.’ CW
VI 144
101.
Do not recognize
wickedness in others. Wickedness is ignorance, weakness. What is the good of
telling people they are weak? Criticism and destruction are of no avail. We
must give them something higher; tell them of their own glorious nature, their
birthright. CW VI 141-42
102.
What I say is not
‘Reform’, but ‘Move on’. Nothing is too bad to reform. Adaptability is the
whole mystery of life – the principle underneath, which serves to unfold it.
Adjustment or adaptation is the outcome of the self-pitted against external
forces tending to suppress it. He who adjusts himself best lives the longest.
Even if I do not preach this, society is changing, it must change. CW VI 110
103.
Nothing else is
necessary but these – love, sincerity, and patience. What is
life, but growth, i.e. expansion, i.e. love. Therefore, all love is life, it is
the only law of life, all selfishness is death, and this is true here and
hereafter. It is life to do good, and it is death not do good to others. Ninety
percent of human brutes you see are dead, are ghosts – for none lives, my boys,
but he who loves. CW IV 367
104.
On one side, new
India is saying, ‘If we only adopt western ideas, western language, western
food, western dress, and western manners, we shall be as strong and powerful as
the western nations’; on the other, old India is saying, ‘Fools! By imitation,
others’ ideas never become one’s own; nothing, unless earned, is your own. Does
the ass in the lion’s skin become the lion? On one side, new
105.
Social life in
the West is like a peal of laughter; but underneath, it is a wail. It ends in a
sob. The fun and frivolity are all on the surface: really it is full of tragic
intensity. Now here, it is sad and gloomy on the outside, but underneath are
carelessness and merriment. CW VIII 261-62
106.
As far back as
the days of the Upanishads, we have thrown the challenge to the world: ‘Not by
progeny, not by wealth, but by renunciation alone immortality is reached.’ Race
after race has taken the challenge up and tried their utmost to solve the
world-riddle on the plane of desires. They have all failed in the past – the
old ones have become extinct under the weight of wickedness and misery, which
lust for power and gold brings in its train, and the new ones are tottering to
their fall. The question has yet to be decided whether peace will survive or
war; whether patience will survive or non-forbearance; whether goodness will
survive or wickedness; whether muscle will survive or brain; whether
worldliness will survive or spirituality. We have solved our problem ages ago.
…. Our solution is unworldliness – renunciation. CW IV 314-15
107.
One of the
greatest lessons I have learned in my life is to pay as much attention to the
means of work as to its end. ….. I have always been learning great lessons from
that one principle, and it appears to me that all the secret of success is
there: to pay as much attention to the means as to the end. CW II 1
108.
Our duty to
others means helping others; doing good to the world. Why should we do good to
the world? Apparently to help the world, but really to help ourselves. ….. Do
not stand on a high pedestal and take five cents in your hand and say, ‘Here,
my poor man,’ but be grateful that the poor man is there, so that by making a
gift to him, you are able to help yourself. It is not the receiver that is
blessed, but it is the giver. Be thankful that you are allowed to exercise your
power of benevolence and mercy in the world, and thus become pure and perfect.
CW I 75-76
109.
It is the level
headed man, the calm man, of good judgment and cool nerves, of great sympathy
and love, and who does good work and so does good to himself. CW I 79
110.
Great work
requires great and persistent effort for a long time. Neither need we trouble
ourselves, if a few fail. It is in the nature of things that many should fall,
that troubles should come, that tremendous difficulties should arise, that
selfishness and all the other devils in the human heart should struggle hard,
when they are about to be driven out by the fire of spirituality. CW VIII
382
111.
In doing evil, we
injure ourselves and others also. In doing good, we do good to ourselves and to
others as well. ….. According to Karma yoga, the action one has done cannot be
destroyed until it has borne its fruit; no power in nature can stop it from
yielding its results. If I do an evil action, I must suffer for it; there is no
power in this universe to stop or to stay it. Similarly, if I do a good action,
there is no power in the universe which can stop its bearing good results. CW
I 82
112.
The watchword of
all well-being, of all moral good, is not ‘I’ but ‘Thou’. Who cares whether
there is heaven or a hell, who cares if there is a soul or not, who cares if
there is an unchangeable or not? Here is the world, and it is full of misery.
Go out into it as Buddha did, and struggle to lessen it or die in the attempt.
Forget yourselves; this is the first lesson to be learnt, whether you are a
theist or an atheist, whether you are an agnostic or a Vedantist, a Christian
or a Mohammedan. CW II 353
113.
Buddha is the
only prophet who said, ‘I do not care to know your various theories about God.
What is the use of discussing all the subtle doctrines about the soul? Do good
and be good. And this will take you to the freedom and to whatever truth there
is.’ …… He works best who works without any motive, neither for money, nor for
fame, nor for anything else; and when a man can do that, he will be a Buddha,
and out of him will come the power to work in such a manner as will transform
the world. CW I 117-18
114.
Selfishness is
the chief sin, thinking of ourselves first. He who thinks, ‘I will eat first, I
will have more money than others, and I will possess everything,’ he who
thinks, ‘I will go to heaven before others, I will get to heaven before others,
I will get mukti before others’, is the selfish man. The unselfish man says, ‘I
will be last, I do not care to go to heaven, I will even go to hell, if by
doings so I can help my brothers.’ This unselfishness is the test of religion.
He who has more of this unselfishness is more spiritual and nearer to Siva. CW
III 143
115.
You cannot help
anyone, you can only serve; serve the children of the Lord, serve the Lord
Himself, if you have the privilege. If the Lord grants that you can help any
one of His children, blessed you are; do not think too much of yourselves.
Blessed you are that, that privilege was given to you when others had it not.
Do it only as a worship. CW III 246
116.
Blessed are we
that we are given the privilege of working for Him, not of helping Him. Cut out
this word help from your mind. You cannot help; it is blaspheming. You are here
yourself at His pleasure. Do you mean to say, you help Him? You worship. When
you give a morsel of food to the dog, you worship the dog as God. God is in
that dog. He is all and in all. CW V 246
117.
After so much
austerity, I have understood this as the real truth – God is present in every
jiva; there is no other God beside that. ‘Who serves jiva, serves God indeed.’ CW
VI 247
118.
If in this hell
of a world, one can bring a little joy and peace even for a day into the heart
of single person, that much alone is true; this I have learnt after suffering
all my life; all else is mere moonshine. CW V 176
119.
One idea that I
see clear as daylight is that misery is caused by ignorance and nothing
else. Who will give the world light? Sacrifice in the past has been the Law, it
will be, alas, for the ages to come. The earth’s bravest and best will have to
sacrifice themselves for the good of many, for the welfare of all. Buddhas by
the hundred are necessary with eternal love and pity. CW VII 498
120.
Let us calmly and
in manly fashion go to work, instead of dissipating our energy in unnecessary
fretting and fuming. I, for one, thoroughly believe that no power in the
universe can withhold from anyone anything he really deserves. The past was
great no doubt, but I sincerely believe that the future will be more glorious
still. CW IV 396
121.
Behold, how men
are already in the jaws of the shark of infatuation! Oh, listen to their
piteous heart-rending wails. Advance! Forward! O ye brave souls, to set free
those that are in fetters, to lessen the burden of woe of the miserable, and to
illumine the abysmal darkness of ignorant hearts. Look, how the Vedanta
proclaims by beat of drums, ‘Be fearless!’ CW VII 500-01
122.
The only way of
getting our divine nature manifested is by helping others to do the same. If
there is inequality in nature, still there must be equal chance for all – or if
greater for some and for some less – the weaker should be given more chance
than the strong. In other words, a Brahmana is not much in need of education as
a Chandala. If the son of a Brahmana needs one teacher, that of a Chandala
needs ten. For greater help must be given to him whom nature has not endowed
with an acute intellect from birth. It is a madman who carries coals to
123.
This is the gist
of all worship – to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Siva in the
poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worship Siva; and if he sees
Siva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. CW III 141-42
124.
The life of
Buddha shows that even a man who does not believe in God, has no metaphysics,
belongs to no sect, and does not go to any church, or temple, and is a confused
materialist, even he can attain to the highest. …. He was the only man who was
ever ready to give up his life for animals, to stop a sacrifice. He once said
to a king: ‘If the sacrifice of lamb helps you to go to heaven, sacrificing a
man will help you better; so sacrifice me.’ The king was astonished. CW IV
136
125.
‘The good live
for others alone. The wise man should sacrifice himself for others.’ I can
secure my own good only by doing your good. There is no other way, none
whatsoever. CW VI 317
126.
Go from village
to village, do good to humanity and to the world at large. Go to hell yourself
to buy salvation for others. …… ‘When death is certain, it is better to die for
a good cause.’ CW VI 265-67
127.
Throughout the
history of the world, you find great men make great sacrifices and the mass of
mankind enjoy the benefit. If you want to give up everything for your own
salvation, it is nothing. Do you want to forgo even your own salvation for the
good of the world? You are God, think of that. CW VI 280
128.
The world is not
for cowards. Do not try to fly. Look not for success or failure. Join yourself
to the perfectly unselfish will and work on. Know that mind which is born to
succeed join itself to a determined will and perseveres. ….. Live in the midst
of the battle of life. Anyone can keep calm in a cave or when asleep. Stand in
the whirl and madness of action and reach the center. If you have found the
center, you cannot be moved. CW VI 83-84
129.
A hundred
thousand men and women, fired with the zeal of holiness, fortified with eternal
faith in Lord, and nerved to lion’s courage by their sympathy for the poor and
the fallen and the downtrodden, will go over the length and breadth of the
land, preaching the gospel of salvation, the gospel of help, the gospel of
social raising-up – the gospel of equality. CW V 15
130.
My boy, if you
have any respect for my words, the first thing I will advice you to do is to
throw open all the doors and windows of your room. In your quarter there are
lots of poor people sunk in degradation and misery. You will have to go to them
and serve them with your zeal and enthusiasm. Arrange to distribute medicines
to those who are sick, and nurse them with all care, supply food to him who is
starving, teach with as much as lies in you to the ignorant; and if you begin
to serve your brethren in this wise, I tell you, my child, you will surely get
peace and consolation. Rem. P.330
131.
Where is that
martial spirit which, at the very outset, requires one to know how to serve and
obey, and not to practice self-restraint? The martial spirit is not
self-assertion, but self-sacrifice. One must be ready to advance and lay down
one’s life at the word of command, before he can command the hearts and lives
of others. One must sacrifice himself first. CW VII 270
132.
It is fear alone
that is death. You have to go beyond all fear. So from this day, be fearless.
Off at once, to lay down your life for your own liberation and for the good of
others. What good it is carrying along a load of bones and
flesh! CW VI 473
133.
Trust not the
so-called rich, they are more dead than alive. The hope lies in you – in the
meek, the lowly, but the faithful. Have faith in the Lord; no policy, it is
nothing. Feel for the miserable and look up for help – it shall come. …..
I may perish of cold or hunger in this land, but I bequeath to you, young men,
this sympathy, this struggle for the poor, the ignorant, the oppressed. …..
Vow, then to devote your whole lives to the cause of redemption of these three
hundred millions, going down and down every day. CW V 16-17
134.
The history of
world is of six men of faith, six men of deep pure character. We need to have
three things: the heart to feel, the brain to conceive, the hand to work. Make
yourself a dynamo. Feel, first for the world. …… Ask yourself, does your
mind react in hatred or jealousy? Good works are continually are being undone
by the tons of hatred and anger which are being poured out on the world. If you
are pure, if you are strong, you, one man, are equal to the whole world.
CW VI 144-45
135.
Will such a day
come when this life will go for the sake of others’ good? The world is not a
child’s play - and great men are those who build highways for others with their
heart’s blood. This has been taking place through eternity, that one builds a
bridge by laying down his own body, and thousands of others cross the river
through its help. Be it so! Be it so! CW VI 273-74
136.
Religion is the
idea which is raising a brute unto man and a man unto God.
CW V 409
137.
The definition of
God and man: Man is an infinite circle whose circumference is no where, but the
center is located in one spot; and God is an infinite circle whose
circumference is nowhere but center is everywhere. CW II 33
138.
The difference
between God and the devil is in nothing except in unselfishness and
selfishness. The devil knows as much as God, is as powerful as God; only he has
no holiness – that makes him a devil. Apply the same idea to the modern world:
excess of knowledge and power, without holiness, makes human beings devil. CW
I 425
139.
Virtue is that
which tends to our improvement, and vice is to our degeneration. Man is made of
three qualities – brutal, human and godly. That which tends to increase the
divinity in you is virtue, and that which tends to increase brutality in you is
vice. You must kill the brutal nature and become human, that is, loving and
charitable. You must transcend that too and become pure bliss,
Sachchidanananda, fire without burning, wonderfully loving, but without the
weakness of human love, without the feeling of misery. CW VI 112
140.
Unselfishness
is God. One may live on a throne, in
a golden palace, and be perfectly unselfish; and then he is in
God. CW V 409
COMPILED BY SHRI BHARAT CHURIWALA, MANAGER OF THE
GROUP