Today marks the 119th death anniversary of social reformer and spiritual thinker, Swami Vivekananda, who inspired the youth of our country to lead a life of purity and being an example to the world.
Often referred to as a Hindu monk, Swami Vivekananda traveled across the world during the times of Colonial India and propagated India's ancient faith. His most historic and iconic speech remains to be in Chicago in 1893 when he introduced Hinduism to the world.
Swami Vivekananda was born as Narendra Nath Datta in an affluent family on January 12, 1863, in British India's Calcutta. He devoted his entire life to the service of the nation and humanity.
Since his childhood, he was an avid reader and was mostly interested in subjects like philosophy, religion literature, spirituality, and history.
It was when he became a disciple of an Indian mystic by the name of Ramakrishna Paramhansa that he got the name 'Vivekananda' in 1893, upon the request of Maharaja Ajit Singh.
He was just 39 years old when he died on July 4, 1902.
Even after all these years, people still remember his ideologies, thoughts, and also some of his many quotes that inspire them till today.
Let's have a look at some of his greatest quotes –
- "When I asked god for peace, he showed me how to help others."
- "In one word, this ideal is that you are divine."
- "In a day, when you don't come across any problems – you can be sure that you are travelling in a wrong path"
- "Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true."
- "Arise,awake and donot stop until the goal is reached."
- "You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul."
- "The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature."
- "Talk to yourself once in a day, otherwise you may miss meeting an intelligent person in this world."
- "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."
- "The goal of mankind is knowledge … Now this knowledge is inherent in man. No knowledge comes from outside: it is all inside. What we say a man 'knows', should, in strict psychological language, be what he 'discovers' or 'unveils'; what man 'learns' is really what he discovers by taking the cover off his own soul, which is a mine of infinite knowledge."