Quotes by Swami Vivekananda

You have to grow from inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul.

You cannot teach a child any more than you can grow a plant. All you can do is on the negative side - you can only help. It is a manifestation from within; it develops its own nature - you can only take away obstructions.

After every happiness comes misery; they may be far apart or near. The more advanced the soul, the more quickly does one follow the other. What we want is neither happiness nor misery. Both make us forget our true nature; both are chains--one iron, one gold; behind both is the Atman, who knows neither happiness nor misery. These are states, and states must ever change; but the nature of the Atman is bliss, peace, unchanging. We have not to get it, we have it; only wash away the dross and see it.

All knowledge that the world has ever received comes from the mind; the infinite library of the universe is in our own mind.

Throw away all weakness. Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself.   

“Those who really want to be yogis must give up, once and for all, this nibbling at things. Take up one idea; make that one idea your life. Think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave other ideas alone.”

“The mind generally takes up various objects, runs into all sorts of things. That is the lower state.

There is a higher state of the mind, when it takes up one object and excludes all others.”

"This is the gist of all worship: to be pure and to do good to others. He who sees Shiva in the poor, in the weak, and in the diseased, really worships Shiva. And if he sees Shiva only in the image, his worship is but preliminary. He who has served and helped one poor man seeing Shiva in him, without thinking of his caste or creed or race or anything, with him Shiva is more pleased than with the man who sees Him only in temples"

We must always bear in mind that we are not going to be free, but are free already.  Every idea that we are bound is a delusion.

Real freedom is not merely doing what you like, but also NOT doing what you like.