Swami Vivekananda

Every line we carry

Each one links to its source, what it means, and the shirt in any of our looks.

1. Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.

   Vivekananda turned an old Upanishad verse into a rallying cry for a whole generation. Get up, wake up, and do not stop until you arrive. The third clause is his own emphasis: starting is common, finishing is rare. Keep going after the excitement fades.

   'The Mission of the Vedanta', address at Kumbakonam (1897), Lectures from Colombo to Almora, Original English (Lectures from Colombo to Almora, 1897)

2. Strength is life. Weakness is death.

   Vivekananda means strength of mind first: the inner firmness that keeps misery from getting a grip. Microbes surround us all the time, he says, but only harm us when the body is weak, and the same is true of trouble. Build strength daily in body and mind, because it is what lets you live fully.

   'Work and its Secret', lecture at Los Angeles (4 January 1900), Original English (Complete Works, vol. 2, Mayavati Memorial Edition)

3. If there is any sin in the world, it is weakness.

   Vivekananda was speaking to people told for generations that they were small. His answer was that the real failing is not this or that misdeed but giving in to weakness. Stand on your own strength, even if it costs you. Self-contempt is not humility.

   'Reply to the Address of Welcome at Ramnad' (1897), Lectures from Colombo to Almora, Original English (Lectures from Colombo to Almora, 1897)

4. Each soul is potentially divine.

   This is how Vivekananda summed up religion in one sentence. Every person carries something divine, and the work of life is to bring it out by mastering nature, inside and outside. You are not trying to become something foreign; you are uncovering what is already there.

   Raja-Yoga (1896), preface, Original English (Raja-Yoga, 1896)

5. Stand up, be bold, be strong. You make your own destiny.

   The argument just before this line is simple: if your misery is your own doing, then you can undo it, and what someone else did to you is out of your hands. So take full responsibility. It is less comfortable than blaming others, and far more powerful.

   Jnana-Yoga, 'The Cosmos: The Microcosm', Original English (Jnana-Yoga, lectures in London and New York, 1896)

6. Believe in yourselves first, and then believe in anything else.

   For Vivekananda, faith in yourself is not arrogance but the first article of faith. He points out that the nations and people who did great things were the ones who believed in themselves. Everything else you try to trust rests on that foundation.

   'The Vedanta', lecture at Lahore (1897), Lectures from Colombo to Almora, Original English (Lectures from Colombo to Almora)