Swami Vivekananda Wonderful Speech in Chicago

Sisters and Brothers of America,

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions; I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honour of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true.

I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and nations of the earth.

I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny.

I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, sources in different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee."

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me."

Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilisation and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honour of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.

“IT is good to love God for hope of reward, but it is better to love God for love’s sake; and the prayer goes: O Lord, I do not want wealth nor children nor learning. If it be Thy will, I shall go from birth to birth. But grant me this, that I may love thee without the hope of reward - ’love’ unselfishly for love’s sake.” ~Swami Vivekananda
“TO worship God even for the sake of salvation or any other reward is equally degenerate. Love knows no reward. Give your love unto to God, but do not ask anything in return even from Him through pray.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“That man has reached immortality who is disturbed by nothing material.”
~Swami Vivekananda
“External nature is only internal nature writ large.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“Do not stand on a high pedestal and take 5 cents in your hand and say, "here, my poor man", but be grateful that the poor man is there, so by making a gift to him you are able to help yourself. It is not the receiver that is blessed, but it is the giver. Be thankful that you are allowed to exercise your power of benevolence and mercy in the world, and thus become pure and perfect.”
~Swami Vivekananda
“GOD is to be worshipped as the one beloved, dearer than everything in this and next life.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“If money help a man to do good to others, it is of some value; but if not, it is simply a mass of evil, and the sooner it is got rid of, the better.”
~Swami Vivekananda
“Condemn none: if you can stretch out a helping hand, do so. If you cannot, fold your hands, bless your brothers, and let them go their own way.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thought make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light. First, believe in this world, that”
~Swami Vivekananda
“The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“If faith in ourselves had been more extensively taught and practiced, I am sure a very large portion of the evils and miseries that we have would have vanished.”
~Swami Vivekananda
“MY nature is love Him. And therefore I love. I do not pray for any-thing. I do not ask for anything. Let Him place me wherever He likes. I must love Him for love’s sake. I can not trade in love.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“To devote your life to the good of all and to the happiness of all is religion. Whatever you do for your own sake is not religion”
~Swami Vivekananda
“Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“The will is not free - it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind the will which is free.”
~Swami Vivekananda
“As different streams having different sources all mingle their waters in the sea, so different tendencies various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to God.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state.”

~Swami Vivekananda      “All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything.”

~Swami Vivekananda      “Infinite power of the spirit, brought to bear upon matter evolves material development, made to act upon thought evolves intellectuality, and made to act upon itself makes of man a God. First, let us be Gods, and then help other to be GOds. "Be and Make." Let this be our motto.”

~Swami Vivekananda

“The Vedanta recognizes no sin it only recognizes error. And 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.”

~Swami Vivekananda

“The more we come out and do good to others, the more our hearts will be purified, and God will be in them.”

~Swami Vivekananda      “All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.” ~Swami Vivekananda      “GOD of truth, be Thou alone my guide…” ~Swami Vivekananda      “If you think about disaster, you will get it. Brood about death and you hasten your demise. Think positively and masterfully, with confidence and faith, and life becomes more secure, more fraught with action, richer in achievement and experience.” ~Swami Vivekananda      “The greatest religion is to be true to your own nature. Have faith in yourselves!” ~Swami Vivekananda      “YOU know, I may have to be born again, you see, I have fallen in love with mankind.” ~Swami Vivekananda      “BY the study of different RELIGIONS we find that in essence they are one.” ~Swami Vivekananda      “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.” ~Swami Vivekananda

“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.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“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, or others are weak.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“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.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“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.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“Where can we go to find God if we cannot see Him in our own hearts and in every living being.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself.”
~Swami Vivekananda

“The first sign of your becoming religious is that you are becoming cheerful”
~Swami Vivekananda

“The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.”
~Swami Vivekananda