In this article we’ll make a collection of Swami Vivekananda‘s quotes on weakness. Related articles are listed at the bottom of the page.
On weakness
- All these ideas of weakness will be nowhere.[Source]
- All these various theories of heaven that are being put forward show weakness in the mind. And that weakness is here.[Source]
- All weakness, all bondage is imagination. Speak one word to it, it must vanish. Do not weaken! There is no other way out….[Source]
- As soon as you say, “I am a little mortal being,” you are saying something which is not true, you are giving the lie to yourselves, you are hypnotising yourselves into something vile and weak and wretched.[Source]
- Avoid weakness and slavery.[Source]
- Be free from the bonds of nature, be free from weakness![Source]
- 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.[Source]
- Darkness never existed, weakness never existed. We who are fools cry that we are weak; we who are fools cry that we are impure.[Source]
- Dash, pluck, fight, all these things are weakness.[Source]
- From my childhood everyone around me taught weakness; I have been told ever since I was born that I was a weak thing. It is very difficult for me now to realise my own strength, but by analysis and reasoning I gain knowledge of my own strength, I realise it.[Source]
- Have no weakness even in the face of death. Do not repent, do not brood over past deeds, and do not remember your good deeds; be âzâd (free).[Source]
- He who always thinks of himself as weak wild never become strong, but he who knows himself to be a lion.[Source]
- 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 evil doing; it is weakness that is the source of all selfishness; it is weakness that makes men injure others; it is weakness that makes them manifest what they are not in reality.[Source]
- I cannot be miserable unless I am weak.[Source]
- It is a sign of weakness that we have to go on crawling like worms to get a few facts and build generalisations, and then the whole thing tumbles down again.[Source]
- It is not fitting that you think yourself weak.[Source]
- It is weakness, says the Vedanta, which is the cause of all misery in this world. Weakness is the one cause of suffering. We become miserable because we are weak. We lie, steal, kill, and commit other crimes, because we are weak. We suffer because we are weak. We die because we are weak. Where there is nothing to weaken us, there is no death nor sorrow.[Source]
- Many a time comes when we want to interpret our weakness and cowardice as forgiveness and renunciation.[Source]
- Mark you, let us all be honest. If we cannot follow the ideal, let us confess our weakness, but not degrade it; let not any try to pull it down.[Source]
- Mystery mongering and superstition are always signs of weakness.[Source]
- Never pander to weakness.[Source]
- No cowardice, no sin, no crime, no weakness — the rest will come of itself. . . .[Source]
- Shake off this weakness, this faintheartedness! क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ। — Thou art a hero, a Vira; this is unbecoming of thee.[Source]
- 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.[Source]
- Stand and die in your own strength, if there is any sin in the world, it is weakness; avoid all weakness, for weakness is sin, weakness is death.[Source]
- Strength is goodness, weakness is sin.[Source]
- Strength is life, weakness is death.[Source]
- The Gita opens with this very significant verse: “Arise, O Prince! Give up this faint-heartedness, this weakness! Stand up and fight!”[Source]
- The greatest weakness often insinuates itself as the greatest good and strength.[Source]
- “The sign of death is weakness; the sign of life is strength.”[Source]
- 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.[Source]
- The weak have no will, and can never work.[Source]
- There are two curses here: first our weakness, secondly, our hatred, our dried-up hearts.[Source]
- “This Atman is not to be attained by the weak”, says the Shruti. Both physical weakness and mental weakness are meant here.[Source]
- We are forever trying to make our weakness look like strength, our sentiment like love, our cowardice like courage, etc.[Source]
- We are lions in sheep’s clothing of habit, we are hypnotised into weakness by our surroundings.[Source]
- What is the good of telling people they are weak?[Source]
- What people speak of as sin is the result of weakness.[Source]
- Wherever there is thought of weakness, approach not the place. Avoid all weakness if you want to be a Jnani.[Source]
- Whosoever thinks he is weak is wrong, whosoever thinks he is impure is wrong, and is throwing a bad thought into the world.[Source]
- Wickedness is ignorance, weakness.[Source]
- Will sin cure sin, weakness cure weakness? Strength, O man, strength, say the Upanishads, stand up and be strong.[Source]
On physical weakness
- Physical weakness is the cause of at least one-third of our miseries. We are lazy, we cannot work; we cannot combine, we do not love each other; we are intensely selfish, not three of us can come together without hating each other, without being jealous of each other.[Source]
- 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.[Source]
See also
