Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.
Swami VivekanandaRead
Unselfishness is God. One may live on a throne, in a golden palace, and be perfectly unselfish; and then he is in God. Another may live in a hut and wear rags, and have nothing in the world; yet, if he is selfish, he is intensely merged in the world.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Unselfishness connects us to a higher spiritual plane, while selfishness ties us to worldly attachments.
In this quote, Swami Vivekananda emphasizes that true unselfishness is a divine quality that transcends material wealth or status. A person can be royalty in all comforts yet still embody the essence of God through selfless actions, whereas someone living in poverty but consumed by selfishness is enveloped in worldly concerns. This highlights that our spiritual worth is determined more by our intentions and actions than our material circumstances.
Themes
UnselfishnessSelflessnessSpiritualityMaterialismSelfishness
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on spirituality, this quote can be used to illustrate the importance of selflessness.
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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
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