Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.
Swami VivekanandaRead
My countrymen should have nerves of steel, muscles of iron, and minds like thunderbolt.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote encourages resilience and strength in facing challenges.
Swami Vivekananda's quote emphasizes the importance of inner strength, physical endurance, and mental acuity for individuals, particularly in the context of serving and uplifting their nation. By likening these qualities to 'nerves of steel,' 'muscles of iron,' and 'minds like thunderbolt,' he suggests that a strong character is essential for overcoming difficulties and achieving greatness.
Themes
StrengthResilienceCourageEnduranceCharacter
In practice
Example use cases
Using this quote in a motivational speech at a community gathering to inspire resilience.
More from Swami Vivekananda
All quotes →Rama, the ancient idol of the heroic ages, the embodiment of truth, of morality, the ideal son, the ideal husband, and above all, the ideal king, this Rama has been presented before us by the great sage Valmiki. No language can be purer, none chaster, none more beautiful, and at the same time simpler, than the language in which the great poet has depicted the life of Rama.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Hinduism threw away Buddhism after taking its sap. The attempt of all the Southern Acharyas was to effect a reconciliation between the two. Shankaracharya's teaching shows the influence of Buddhism. His disciples perverted his teaching and carried it to such an extreme point that some of the later reformers were right in calling the Acharya's followers "crypto-buddhists".
Swami VivekanandaRead
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 favours 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 VivekanandaRead
I have come to deal with principles. I have only to preach that God comes again and again, and that He came in India as Krishna, Rama, and Buddha, and that He will come again. It can almost be demonstrated that after each 500 years the world sinks, and a tremendous spiritual wave comes, and on the top of the wave is a Christ.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Salvation means knowing the truth. We do not become anything; we are what we are. Salvation [comes] by faith and not by work. It is a question of knowledge! You must know what you are, and it is done. The dream vanishes. This you [and others] are dreaming here. When they die, they go to [the] heaven [of their dream]. They live in that dream, and [when it ends], they take a nice body [here], and they are good people.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Similar quotes
Honestly, I do not experience fear in the mountains. On the contraryI feel my shoulders straightening, squaring, like the birds as they straighten their wings. I enjoy the freedom and the altitude. It is only when I return to life below that I feel the world's weight on my shoulders.
Anatoli BoukreevRead
No one ever tells us to stop running away from fear...the advice we usually get is to sweeten it up, smooth it over, take a pill, or distract ourselves, but by all means make it go away. (5)
Pema ChodronRead
Mr. President how long must women wait to get their liberty? Let us have the rights we deserve.
Alice PaulRead
You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer,” said Miss Pross, in her breathing. “Nevertheless, you shall not get the better of me. I am an Englishwoman.
Charles DickensRead
Let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truth's sake, and so earn some right to rejoice when the victory is won.
Louisa May AlcottRead
It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.
Steven PressfieldRead