Flashes Of
Swamy Vivekananda

The perfect never becomes imperfect.

Good is near truth but is not yet truth.

Look at the ocean not at the waves.

Do not merely endure, be unattached.

Dare to come to truth even through hell.

All condemnation of others really condemns ourselves.

We cannot see outside what we are not inside.

Man is the highest being that exists.

What we call nature, fate, is simply God's will.

Work purifies heart and so leads to vidya(wisdom).

Choose the highest ideal and live your life up to that.

Experience is the only teacher.

Philosophy is not got by studying books.

The world is but a gymnasium in which we play; our life is an eternal holiday.

Do not stick to particularisations; go to the principle, to the one.

Nothing can give you freedom, if you have it not already.

The greatest sin is to think yourself weak.

No one method can suit all.

Instinct is like ice, reason is the water, and inspiration is the subtlest form of vapour.

Faith is not belief, it is the grasp on the ultimate, an illumination.

Do not spend your energy in talking, but meditate in silence.

The whole ocean is present at the back of each wave.

Religion gives you nothing new; it only takes off obstacles and lets you see yourself.

Melancholy is an almost insurmountable barrier.

Do all as a sacrifice or offering to the Lord.

How can we see evil unless it is in us.

See the science of the maker and not that of made.

Eat the mangoes and let the rest quarrel over the basket.

Guess against guess makes fight.

Meditation is on a series of objects; Concentration is on one object.