Slowly and gradually we are to train ourselves. It is no joke – not a question of a day, or years, or maybe of births. Never mind! The pull must go on. Knowingly, voluntarily, the pull must go on. Inch by inch we will gain ground. We will begin to feel and get real possessions, which no one can take, the wealth that nobody can destroy, the joy that no misery can heart any more…
(p.249, C.W. Vol.4, ‘The Practice of Religion’, Lecture delivered by Swamiji at Alameda, California, on 18 April, 1900.)