Kiran Bedi - first women IPS

" My motto in life is that nothing is impossible, no target unachievable - one just has to try harder and harder."

" I believe sunshine is for recharging and channelising our energies and not discharging them. Those of us who live this belief remains a source of sustained energy for humankind.

Whatever be the temptations, or compulsions, let there be no clause for 'ifs' or 'buts'...in principled living."

Everything in life is a mixed bag. It depends on what one is looking for.

As long as women continue to be in a position of receiving rather than giving, they shall continue to bear injustice.
Empowered women who reach tough or unconventional positions make choices not sacrifices.

Decision-making, in certain situations, is always controversial. The only way one can avoid this is to take NO decisions and leave the problem as it is. Seniors who do not solve a problem become a part of the problem themselves.

Affluent modern plastering will keep the oldest profession thriving... and women crying foul when the deals go sour.

We can start the change from own homes, neighborhoods, bastis, villages and schools.

What a national revolution it would be if each one of us were to self-police.

There are self-chosen exercises to move forward.

People who do not take charge of their lives are lathi-charged by time.

Corruption cannot be removed without reducing the gap between the governing and the governed.

Terrorism anywhere is a threat for humanity.

Bonding cannot happen without a strong shift in prevailing attitudes.

For me a new phase of life has begun! one of perpetual gratitude and sharing of joy
What a national revolution it would be if each one of us were to self police.

Ethics, decency and morality are the real soldiers

There are self-chosen exercises to move forward.

Value strengths and build on the, while correcting ills along the way

Ethics, decency and morality are the real soldiers.

What is the value of education which does not inculcate passion and fearlessness for setting right what is wrong?

“There is nothing unfinished on my agenda. I do whatever I can for the day. Simple! If I were to die today; I will depart with nothing impending”.

“Works gives me ‘JOY’ and every beginnings is a path of self discovery.”

“I have always nurtured a zeal inside me to live and serve the underprivileged community.”

“I take is in stride, Although I feel content with all that I have, I have never rested on my past laurels, simply as I feel that there is a lot of look ahead and the grand finale is yet to come”.

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Jawaharlal Nehru

* A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action.

* A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new; when an age ends; and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance.

* Action itself, so long as I am convinced that it is right action, gives me satisfaction.

* Action to be effective must be directed to clearly conceived ends.

* Crises and deadlocks when they occur have at least this advantage, that they force us to think.

* Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.

* Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse.

* Every little thing counts in a crisis.

* Great causes and little men go ill together.

* I have become a queer mixture of the East and the West, out of place everywhere, at home nowhere.

* Ignorance is always afraid of change.

* It is only too easy to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.

* It is the habit of every aggressor nation to claim that it is acting on the defensive.

* Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.

* Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.

* The art of a people is a true mirror to their minds.

* The only alternative to coexistence is co-destruction.

* The person who runs away exposes himself to that very danger more than a person who sits quietly.

* The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.

* We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.

* What we really are matters more than what other people think of us.

* Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves.

* Loyal and efficient work in a great cause, even though it may not be immediately recognized, ultimately bears fruit.

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Dhirubhai Ambani - A man with dreams

* The problem with Indians is that we have lost the habit of thinking big!

* We can prove to the world that India can do it. That Indians are not afraid of competition. That India is a nation of achievers.

* I dream India of becoming a great economic superpower.

* We must forge a new partnership for a great India. A strong and constructive partnership between industry, government and society.

* We must always go for the best. Do not compromise on quality. Reject if it is not the best -- not only the best in India, but globally.

* If India wants to be a great nation, we must have courage to trust. This is my sincere belief.

* All we have to do is to break the shackles that chain the energies of our people, and India's economy will record a quantum leap and move into a new, higher orbit of growth, competitiveness and productivity.

* I can never fully repay the debt I owe to Mumbai. To all of you. My past was shaped in Mumbai.

* For those who dare to dream, there is a whole world to win!

* I am deaf to the word 'no.'

* I am 100 per cent pro-liberalisation. I do not think any industrialist is against it. But we should protect our industries, from unfair competition.

* There is no question about that (retirement). Business is my hobby. It is not a burden to me. In any case Reliance now can run without me.

* I give least importance to being Number one. I consider myself to be fortunate in this position and would like to contribute to nation building in some way.

* Does making money excite me? No, but I have to make money for my shareholders. What excites me is achievement, doing something difficult. In this room extraordinary things must happen.

* Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one's monopoly.

* Our dreams have to be bigger. Our ambitions higher. Our commitment deeper. And our efforts greater. This is my dream for Reliance and for India.

* First and foremost, I owe my success and achievements to the affection, friendship and trust of millions of employees, customers, shareholders, and business associates, who have stood by me and been a major source of my strength all along.

* I believe that the success of Reliance cannot be attributed to the qualities and achievements of one individual, or even a group of individuals, but has to be viewed as a triumph of a process, and a spirit that binds the entire Reliance family together.

* I consider myself a pathfinder. I have been excavating the jungle and making the road for others to walk. I like to be the first in everything I do.

* I, as school kid, was a member of the Civil Guard, something like today's NCC. We had to salute our officers who went round in jeeps. So I thought one day I will also ride in a jeep and somebody else will salute me.

* My fulfillment lies in the satisfaction of every member of the Reliance family, comprising thousands of workers, managers, business associates and over five million shareholders. Being instrumental in creating wealth for over 5 million India families, and bringing prosperity and well being to their life is the best source of satisfaction and joy for me.

'You do not require an invitation to make profits'

* Give the youth a proper environment. Motivate them. Extend them the support they need. Each one of them has infinite source of energy. They will deliver.

* You do not require an invitation to make profits.

* If you work with determination and with perfection, success will follow.

* Between my past, the present and the future, there is one common factor: Relationship and Trust. This is the foundation of our growth.

* We bet on people.

* Meeting the deadlines is not good enough, beating the deadlines is my expectation.

* Don't give up, courage is my conviction.

* We cannot change our rulers, but we can change the way they rule us.

* Roll up your sleeves and help. You and your team share the same DNA.

* Be a safety net for your team.

* Always be the silent benefactor. Don't tom-tom about how you helped someone.

* Dream big, but dream with your eyes open.

* Leave the professional alone!

* Change your orbit, constantly!

* Money is not a product by itself, it is a by-product, so don't chase it.

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Mahatma Gandhiji - Truth succeeds

Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning.

Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.

As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

Hate the sin, love the sinner.

Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress.

Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.

I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.

I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life.

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.

In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth


Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy.

It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.

It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always.

You must be the change you want to see in the world.

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.


Permanent good can never be the outcome of untruth and violence.

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves.

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems.

Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.

One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong

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Bruce Lee - the fighting Legend

 

“Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.”

“All fixed set patterns are incapable of adaptability or pliability. The truth is outside of all fixed patterns.”

“If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

“using no way as a way, using no limitations as a limitation.”

“As you think, so shall you become.”

“I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowledge has transcended that and I have come to understand that life is best to be lived and not to be conceptualized. I am happy because I am growing daily and I am honestly not knowing where the limit lies. To be certain, every day there can be a revelation or a new discovery. I treasure the memory of the past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude.”

“If you make an ass out of yourself, there will always be someone to ride you”

“Simplicity is the key to brilliance”


“The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.”

“Ever since I was a child I have had this instinctive urge for expansion and growth. To me, the function and duty of a quality human being is the sincere and honest development of one's potential.”

“"A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer."”

“Forget about winning and losing, forget about pride and pain”

“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not you go out and look for a successfull personality an duplicate it.”

“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”

“Notice that the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind.”

“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”

“Real living is living for others.”

“Take things as they are. Punch when you have to punch. Kick when you have to kick.”

“As long as I can remember I feel I have had this great creative and spiritual force within me that is greater than faith, greater than ambition, greater than confidence, greater than determination, greater than vision. It is all these combined. My brain becomes magnetized with this dominating force which I hold in my hand.”

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done.”

“Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them.”

“The possession of anything begins in the mind”

“Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system.”

“If you love life, don't waste time, for time is what life is made up of.”

“A quick temper will make a fool of you soon enough.”

“To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”

“When there is freedom from mechanical conditioning, there is simplicity. The classical man is just a bundle of routine, ideas and tradition. If you follow the classical pattern, you are understanding the routine, the tradition, the shadow - you are not understanding yourself.”

“I am not teaching you anything. I just help you to exlplore yourself”

“The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.”

“Knowledge will give you power, but character respect.”

“Obey the principles without being bound by them.”

“If you want to learn to swim jump into the water. On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you”

“It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”

“To me, the extraordinary aspect of martial arts lies in its simplicity. The easy way is also the right way, and martial arts is nothing at all special; the closer to the true way of martial arts, the less wastage of expression there is.”

“Take no thought of who is right or wrong or who is better than. Be not for or against.”

“"To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person."”

“Let the spirit out - Discard all thoughts of reward, all hopes of praise and fears of blame, all awareness of one's bodily self. And, finally closing the avenues of sense perception, let the spirit out, as it will.”

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Gospel of Strength by Swami Vivekanada - Part 5

Help Yourself:

[When a disciple pleaded helplessness, Swamiji thundered]

What nonsense are you talking? Within you lies indomitable power. Only thinking, ‘I am nothing, I am nothing,’ you have become powerless.

You do not deserve to live if you cannot help yourselves.

It is a diabolism to say,” I am so miserable.” Every man has his own burden to bear. If you are miserable, try to conquer it, try to be happy
Therefore, stand up, be bold, and be strong. Take the whole responsibilities on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creator of your own destiny. All the strength and succor you want is within you.

It is a tremendous error to feel helpless. Do not seek help from anyone. We are our own help. If we cannot help ourselves, there is none to help us… this is the last and greatest lesson, and oh, what a time it takes to learn it! Just think of that huge mass of misery, and all caused by this false idea of going to seek for help!

There is no help for man. None ever was, none is and none will be… But you are spirit. Pull yourself out of difficulties by yourself! Save yourself by yourself! There is none to help you – never was. To think that there is, is sweet delusion. It comes to no good.

You may pray to everyone that was ever born, but who will come to help you? Help thyself out by thyself. None else can help thee friend. Get hold of the self, then stand up. Don’t be afraid. In the midst of all miseries and all weakness, let the Self come out, faint and imperceptible though it be at first.

The one great question asked by Vedanta is: why are people so afraid? The answer is that they have made themselves helpless and dependant on others. We are so lazy, we do not want to do anything for ourselves, and we want a personal god, a savior or a prophet to do everything for us… If everything is done for a man by another he will lose the use of his own limbs. Anything we do ourselves that is the only thing we do. Anything thing that is done by another never can be ours… All this running after help is foolishness.

You know, there are bullock carts... sometimes a sheaf of straw is dangled at the tip of the pole, a little in front of the bulls but beyond their reach. The bulls try continually to feed upon the strew, but never succeed. That is exactly how we are helped. We think we are going to get security, strength, wisdom, happiness from the outside. We always hope but never realize our hope. Never does any help come from outside.

We human beings are very slow to recognize our own faults so long as we can lay the blame upon somebody else. Men in general lay all the blame of life on their fellow-men or failing that, on God or they conjure up a ghost and say it is fate. Where fate and what is is fate? We reap what we sow. we are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise.

You know in your inmost heart that many of your limited ideas this humbling of yourself and praying and weeping to imaginary beings are superstitious. Tell me one case where these prayers have been answered. All the answers that came were from your own hearts.

In your ignorance, every prayer that you have made and that was answered, you thought was answered by some being, but you answered the prayer yourself unknowingly. The help came from yourself, and you fondly imagined that someone was sending help to you. There is no help for you outside of yourself; you are the creator of universe. These words will burn up the dross that is in the mind, words that will bring out the tremendous energy which is within you already, the infinite power which is sleeping in your heart.

There is no help from anyone. That is the truth. There have been more gods than human beings; and yet no help. We die like dogs- no help. Everywhere beastliness, famine, disease, misery, evil! And all are crying for help. But no help. And yet hoping against hope, we are still screaming for help. Oh, the miserable condition! Oh the terror of it!

You have cried to all gods in the world. Has misery ceased? The masses in India cry to sixty million gods and still die like dogs. Where are these gods? The gods come to help you when you have succeeded. So what is the use? This bending the knee to superstitious this selling yourself to your own mind does not befit you, my soul. You are infinite, deathless, birth less. Because you are infinite spirit, it does not befit you to be slave. Arise! Awake!

Those that blame others- and alas! The number of them is increasing everyday- are generally miserable with helpless brains; they have brought themselves to that pass through their own mistakes and blame others but this does not alter their position. It does not serve them in any way. This attempt to throw the blame upon others only weakens them the more. Therefore, blame none for your own faults, stand upon your own feet, and take the whole responsibility upon yourselves. Say “This misery that I am suffering is of my own doing, and that very thing proves that is will have to be undone by me alone.”

If the whole responsibility is thrown upon our own shoulders, we shall be at our highest and best; when we have nobody to grope towards, no devil to lay our blame upon, no personal god to carry our burdens, when we are alone responsible, and then we shall rise to our highest and best

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Gospel of Strength by Swami Vivekanada - Part 4

The source of strength – Soul

What we need is strength; who will give us strength? There are thousands to weaken us and of stories we had had enough. Every one of our Puranas, if you press it, gives out stories enough to fill three-fourths of the libraries of the world. Everything that can weaken us as a race we have had for the last thousand years… Therefore, my friends, as one of your blood, as one that lives and dies with you, let me tell you that we want strength, strength and every time strength. And the Upanishads are the great mine of strength. Therein lies strength enough to invigorate the whole world; the whole world can be vivified, made strong, energized through them.

Strength, strength is what the Upanishads speak to me from every page. This is the one great thing to remember, it has been the one great lesson I have been taught in my life.

Strength, it says strength, O man be not weak. Are there no human weaknesses? – says man. There are, say the Upanishads, but will more weakness heal them? Would you try to wash dirt with dirt? Will sin cure sin? Will weakness cure Weakness? Strength, O man strength, says the Upanishads, stand up and be strong.

First step is getting strength is to uphold the Upanishads and believe “I am soul,” “ Me the sword cannot cut; nor weapons pierce; me the fire cannot burn; me the air cannot dry; I am the Omnipotent, I am the Omniscient.” So repeat these blessed saving words and be strong.

You must know what you are, what your real nature is. You must become conscious of that infinite nature within. Then you bondage will burst.

Think all of you that you are the infinitely powerful Atman, and see what strength comes out.

“Knowledge is Power,” says the proverb. Does it not? It is through knowledge that power comes. Man has got to know that he is a man of infinite power and strength. Really he himself is by his own. And this he must know. And the more he becomes conscious of his own Self, the more he manifests this power, and his bonds break and at last he becomes free.

The soul was never born and will never die, and all these ideas that we are going to die and are afraid to die are mere superstitious. And all such ideas as we can do this or cannot do that are superstitious. We can do everything. The Vedanta teaches men to have faith in themselves first.. Not believing the glory of our own soul is what the Vedanta calls atheism. To many this is, no doubt a terrible idea; and most of us think that this ideal can never be reached; but the Vedanta insists that it can be realized by everyone.

Always talk and hear and reason about this atman. By continuing to practice in this way, you will find in time that the Lion (Brahman) will wake up in you too.

The self within is always shining forth resplendent. Turning away from the people say, I I, I, with their attention held up by this material body, this queer cage of flesh and bones. This is the root cause of all weakness.

Hear day and night that you are that soul. Repeat it to yourselves day and night till it enters into your very veins, till it tingles in every drop of blood, till it is in your flesh and bone. Let the whole body be full of that one ideal, “I am the birth less, the death less, the blissful, the omniscient, and the omnipotent, ever-glorious soul.” Think on it day and night; think on it till it becomes part and parcel of your life. Meditate upon it.. All your actions will be magnified, transformed, deified, by the very power of thought. If matter is power, though is omnipotent. Bring this though to bear upon your life, fill yourselves with the thought of your almightiness, your majesty and your glory.

These conceptions of Vedanta must come out, must remain not only in the forest, not only in the cave, but they must come out to work at the bar and the bench, in the pulpit, and in the cottage of the poor man, with the fishermen that are catching fish, and with the students that are studying.. If the fisherman thinks that he is the spirit he will be a better fisherman; if the student thinks that he is the spirit, he will be a better student. If the lawyer thinks that he is the spirit, he will be a better lawyer and so on…

You have now to make the character of Mahavira [Hanuman] your ideal… He was a perfect master of his senses and wonderfully sagacious. You have now to build your life on this great ideal of personal service. Through that, all the other ideals with gradually manifest in life. Obedience to the guru without questioning and strict observance of Bramacharya – this is the secret of success. As on the one hand hanuman represents the ideal of service, so on the other he represents leonine courage, striking the whole world with awe.

Keep aside for the present the vrindavan aspect of shri Krishna and spread far and wide the worship of shri Krishna roaring Gita out, with the voice of a lion… We now mostly need the ideal of a hero with the tremendous spirit of Rajas thrilling through his veins from head to foot… the hero whose armor is renunciation, whose sword is wisdom. We want now the spirit of brave warrior in the battlefield of life, and not of the wooing lover who looks upon life as a pleasure-garden!

This is the only prayer we should have… to tell ourselves, and to tell everybody else that we are divine. And as we go on repeating this, “I am divine, I am divine,” strength comes. He who falters at first will get stronger and stronger, and the voice will increase in volume until the truth takes possession of our hearts, and courses through our veins, and permeates our bodies.

Are not drums made in the country? Are not trumpets and kettle-drums available in India? Make the boys hear the deep-toned sound of these instruments. Hearing from boyhood the sound of these effeminate forms of music the county is well-nigh converted into a country of women. What more degradation can you expect? Even the poet’s imagination fails to draw this picture!

The Damaru and horn have to be sounded; drums are to be beaten so as to raise the deep and martial notes… The music which awakens only the softer feelings of man is to be stopped now for some time. Stopping the light tunes the people are to be accustomed to hear the Dhrupad music. Through the thunder-roll of the dignified Vedic hymns, life is to be brought back into the county. In everything the austere spirit of heroic manhood is to be revived. In following such an ideal lays the good of the people and the country.

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Gospel of Strength by Swami Vivekanada - Part 3

Stop becoming weak , Be strong:

We speak of many things parrot-like, but never do them; speaking and not doing has become a habit with us. What is the cause of that? Physical weakness. This sort of weak brain is not able to do anything; we must strengthen it.

You are lions; you are souls, pure, infinite and perfect. The might of the universe is within you. Why weepiest thou my friend?

The brain and muscles must develop simultaneously. Iron nerves with an intelligent brain – and the whole world is at your feet.

You must learn to make the physique very strong and teach the same to others—Body and mind must run parallel.. When the necessity of strengthening the physique is brought home to people, they will exert themselves of their own accord.

This is not the time with us to weep even in joy; we have had weeping enough; no more is the time for us to become soft. This softness has been with us till we have become like masses of cotton and are dead. What our country now wants are muscles of iron and nerves of steel, gigantic wills which nothing can resist, which can penetrate into the mysteries and the secrets of the universe, and will accomplish their purpose in any fashion even if it meant going down to the bottom of the ocean and meeting death face to face.

If you, my sons, can proclaim this message to the world. “Yield not to unmanliness, O son of Pritha it does not befit thee” – then all this disease, grief, sin and sorrow will vanish off from the face of the earth in three days.

First of all , our young men must be strong. Religion will come afterwards. Be strong, my young friends; that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to heaven through football than through the study of Gita. These are bold words; but I have to say them, for I love you. I know where the shoe pinches. I have gained a little experience. You will understand the Gita better with your biceps, your muscles, a little stronger. You will understand the mighty genius and mighty strength of Krishna better with a little of strong blood in you. You will understand the Upanishads better and the glory of Atman when your body stands firm upon your feet, and you feel yourselves as men.

That is all I have to say to the world. Be strong! The sign of life is strength and growth, the sign of death is weakness. What—ever is weak, avoid! It is death! If it is strength, go down into hell and get hold of it!

Be strong. Be manly. I have respect even for a wicked person so long as he is manly and strong, for his strength will someday make him give up his wickedness, and even renounce all work for selfish ends. It will thus eventually bring him to the truth.

The sign of vigor, the sign of life, the sign of hope, the sign of health, the sign of everything that is good, is strength.

Mark you, those things which you see in pusillanimous effeminate folk who speak in a nasal tone chewing every syllable whose voice is a thin as of one who has been starving for a week, who never protest or are moved even if kicked by anybody – those are the signs of death, not of sattva [the calm and balanced state] – all corruption and stench… During these last thousand years, the whole country is filling the air with the name of the Lord and is sending its prayers to him; and the lord is never lending his hears to them. And why should He? When even man never hears the cries of the fool, do you think God will? Now the only way out is to listen to the words of Lord in Gita – “Yield not to unmanliness, O partha!”

This I lay down as the first essential in all I teach: anything that brings spiritual , mental or physical weakness, touch it not with the toes of your feat.

In your country it is as if the blood has become congealed in the heart, so that it cannot circulate in the veins as if the paralysis has overtaken the body and it has become languid, So my idea is first to make the people active by developing their Rajas [ the tendency for activity ] .. With no strength in the body, no enthusiasm at heart, and no originality in the brain, what will they do- these lumps of dead matter! By stimulating them I want to bring life into them – to this I have dedicated my life... Be you my helpers in the work!
Tell each and all that infinite power resides within them, that they are sharers of immortal bliss. Thus rouse up the Rajas within them – make them fir for the struggle of the existence and then Speak to them about salvation.

Infinite strength is religion and God.

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Gospel of Strength by Swami Vivekanada - Part 2

Stop becoming weak , be strong:

The infinite strength of world is yours. Drive out the superstition that has covered your minds. Let us be brave.

By degrees the heart has to be strengthened. If one man is made, it equals the result of a thousand lectures.

Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak and you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be; if you think yourselves impure, impure you will be; if you think yourselves pure, pure you will be. This teaches us not to think ourselves as weak, but as strong, omnipotent and omniscient.

Know that every thought and word that weakens you in the world is the only evil that exists. Whatever makes man weak and fear is the only evil that should be shunned.

The greatest sin is to think yourself weak.

I beg you to understand this one fact – no good comes out of the man who day and night thinks he is nobody. If a man day and night thinks he is miserable low and nothing, nothing he becomes… That is the great fact which ought to remember.

Being reminded of weakness does not help much; give strength and strength does not come by thinking of weakness all the time. The remedy for weakness is not brooding over weakness, but thinking of strength.

If you tell a man,” You are low, you are vile,” in season and out of season, then he is bound to believe in course of time that he is really such. This is called hypnotism.

To call another a sinner is the worst thing you can do.

Everybody is hypnotized already. The work of attaining freedom, of realizing one’s real nature consists in de-hypnotization.

Come up, O lions , and shake off the delusion that you are sheep; you are souls immortal, spirits free , blest , you are not bodies; matter is you servant , nit you the servant of matter.

“Children of immortal bliss” – what a sweet, what a hopeful name! Allow me to call you brethren, by that sweet name – heirs of immortal bliss.. You are the children of God, the sharers of immortal bliss, holy and perfect beings. You divinities on earth- sinners~ It is a sin to call a man so; it is a standing libel on human nature.

Arise, Awake! Awake from this hypnotism of weakness. None is really weak; the soul is infinite, omnipotent and omniscient. Stand up, assert yourself, proclaim the God within you, do not deny him! Too much of inactivity, too much of weakness, too much of hypnotism has been and is upon our race.. De-hypnotize yourselves. The way to do that is found in your own sacred books. Teach yourselves, teach everyone his real nature, call upon the sleeping soul and see how it awakens. Power will come, glory will come, goodness will come, purity will come, and everything that is excellent will come when this sleeping soul is roused to self conscious activity.

The more I live, the more I become convinced everyday that every human being is divine. In no man or woman, however vile, does that divinity die.

Studying the external alone, man begins to feel himself to be nothing. These vast powers of nature, these tremendous changes occurring – whole communities wiped off the face of the earth in a twinkling of time, one volcanic eruption shattering to pieces whole continents – perceiving and studying these things, man begins to feel himself weak. Therefore it is not the study of nature that makes one strong. But there is the internal nature of man – a million times more powerful that any volcanic eruption or any law of nature – which conquers nature, triumphs over all its laws. And that alone teaches man what he is.


One stumbles more than another, and him who stumbles more we call bad, him who stumbles less we call good.. The difference is not one of kind, but of degree.

In spite of the greatness of the Upanishads, in spite of our boasted ancestry of sages, compared to many other races, I must tell you that we are weak, very weak. First of all is our physical weakness. That physical weakness is the cause of at least one-third of our miseries.

Do you know how much energy, how much powers, how many forces are still lurking behind the frame of yours? What scientist has known all that is in man? Millions of years have passed since man first came here and yet but one infinitesimal part of his powers has been manifested. Therefore you must not say that you are weak. How do you know what possibilities lie behind that degradation on the surface? You know but little of that which is within you. For behind you is the ocean of infinite power and blessedness.

Say not man is a sinner. Tell him that he is a God.

Silly fools tell you that you are sinners, and you sit down in a corner and weep. It is foolishness, wickedness, down-right rascality to say that you are sinners! You are all God.

The greatest error, says the Vedanta is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature, and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that. Every time you think in that way, you as it were, rivet one more link in the chain that binds you down, you add one more layer of hypnotism into tour own soul. Therefore, who so ever thinks he is weak is wrong, who so ever thinks he is impure is wrong and throwing a bad thought into the world.

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Gospel of Strength by Swami Vivekanada - Part 1

Stop becoming weak

Strength, strength , it is that we want so much in this life, for what we call sin and sorrow have all one cause and that is our weakness. With weakness comes ignorance and with ignorance comes misery.

Never be weak, You must be strong, you have infinite strength within you.

Never think there is anything impossible for the soul. It is the greatest heresy to think so. If there is sin, this is the only sin- to say that you are weak.

The only saint is that soul that never weakens and faces everything.

All weakness, all bondage is imagination… Do not weaken!... Stand up and be strong! That is all the religion I know.

Know that all sins and all evils can be summed up in that one word, weakness. It is weakness that is the motive power in all the evil doing; it is weakness that is the source all the selfishness; it is weakness that makes men injure others; it is weakness that makes them manifest what they are not in reality.

The weak have no place here, in this life or in any other life. Weakness leads to slavery. Weakness leads to all kinds of misery, physical and mental. Weakness is death. There are hundreds of thousands of microbes surrounding us, but they cannot harm us unless we become weak, until the body is ready and predisposed to receive them. There may be a million microbes of misery floating about us. Never mind! They dare not approach us, they have no power to get a hold on us, until the mind is weakened.

This is the great fact; strength is life, weakness is death. Strength is felicity, life eternal, immortal, weakness is constant strain and misery; weakness is death.

You must retain great strength in your mind and words “ I am low, I am low” – repeating these ideas in the mind, man belittles and degrades himself.

Sin may be said to be the feeling of every kind of weakness. From this weakness spring jealousy, malice and so forth. Hence weakness is sin.

What we want is strength, so believe in yourselves… Make your nerves strong. What we want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel. We have wept enough. No more weeping, but stand on your own feet and be men.

What is sin and what is misery, and what are all these, but the results of weakness? Men are taught from childhood that they are sinners and weak. Teach them that they are all glorious children of immortality, even those who are the weakest in manifestation. Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into their brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralyzing ones.

First build up your physique. Then only you can get control over the mind.

Never can hatred and malice vanish from one’s heart unless once becomes a hero

It is very easy to say “Hate nobody, resist not evil” but we know what that kind of thing generally means in practice. When the eyes of society are turned towards us, we may make a show of non-resistance, but in our hearts it is canker all the time.. This is hypocrisy and will service no purpose.

This is the once question, I put to every man, woman or child, when they are in physical, mental or spiritual training. Are you strong? Do you feel strength? – for I know it is strength alone that leads to truth.

Stamping down the weakness of mind and heart, stand up saying “I am possessed of heroism; I am possessed of a steady intellect...” Never allow weakness to overtake your mind”


Strength is the medicine for the world’s disease. Strength is the medicine which the poor must have when tyrannized over by the rich. Strength is the medicine that the ignorant must have when oppressed by the learned.

Non-injury is right; “resist not evil” is a great thing – these are indeed grand principles; but the scriptures say, “... If any one smites you on your cheek and you don’t return an eye for eye, a tooth for a tooth, you will verily be a sinner.”

This is very true, and this is a thing which should not be forgotten. Heroes alone enjoy the world. Show your heroism. Otherwise you live a disgraceful life if you pocket your insults when you are kicked and trodden down by anyone who takes it into this head to do so. Your life is a veritable hell here, and so is the life hereafter. This is my advice to you. Of course do not do any wrong. Do not injure or tyrannize over anyone, but try to do good to others as much as you can. But passively to submit to wrong done by other is a sin. Try to pay them back in their own coin then and there. If you cannot do that. How do you profess to be a man?

First you have to build the body with good nutritious food – then only will the mind be strong. The mind is but the subtle part of the body.

The only test of good things is that they make us strong.

As soon as you say,”I am little mortal being,” you are saying something which is not true, you are giving the lie to yourselves, you are hypnotizing yourselves into something vile and weak and wretched.

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