1001Philosophers

Swami Vivekananda Quotes on Truth

For Swami Vivekananda, truth is universal, eternal, and the very substance of the soul, and the quotes gathered here express that conviction. His central statement is unambiguous: all truth is eternal, and truth is nobody's property, so that no race and no individual can lay an exclusive claim to it. This universalism underlay his presentation of Vedanta as a religion open to all, and his insistence that genuine religion must be tested against the heart's own recognition of what is true and what is untrue. Vivekananda also held that truth demands strength, for soft-brained, weak-minded, chicken-hearted people cannot find it; the seeker must be free and as broad as the sky. Drawn largely from Pearls of Wisdom, these passages tie the pursuit of truth to courage and to the realisation of the self.

Quotes

  • “The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature.”

    Karma Yoga

  • “The highest truth is this: God is present in all beings. They are His multiple forms. There is no other God to seek. . . . It is a man-making religion that we want. . . . Give up these weakening mysticisms, and be strong. . . . For the next fifty years. ... let all other gods disappear from our minds. This is the only God that is awake, our own race, everywhere His hands, everywhere His feet, everywhere His ears; He covers everything. . . . The first of all worships is the worship of those all around us. ... He alone serves God who serves all other beings.”

    Quoted from Will Durant , Our Oriental Heritage.

  • “All truth is eternal . Truth is nobody’s property; no race, no individual can lay any exclusive claim to it. Truth is the nature of all souls.”

    Pearls of Wisdom

  • “It is the patient building of character, the intense struggle to realize the truth, which alone will tell in the future of humanity.”

    Pearls of Wisdom

  • “Pray all the time, read all the scriptures in the world, and worship all the gods there are ...but unless you realize the Truth, there is no freedom.”

    Pearls of Wisdom

  • “Soft-brained people, weak-minded, chicken-hearted, cannot find the truth. One has to be free, and as broad as the sky.”

    Pearls of Wisdom

  • “We must approach religion with reverence and with love, and our heart will stand up and say, this is truth, and this is untruth.”

    Pearls of Wisdom

  • “What do you gain in heaven? You become gods, drink nectar, and get rheumatism. There is less misery there than on earth, but also less truth.”

    Pearls of Wisdom

  • “Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.”

    Pearls of Wisdom

More from Swami Vivekananda

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