Swami Vivekananda on how to become successful in life or work

To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. "I will drink the
ocean," says the persevering soul, "at my will mountains will crumble up." Have that sort
of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal.

Each work has to pass through these stages

ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance.
Those who think ahead of their time
are sure to be misunderstood.
Swami Vivekananda
Image source: Wikimedia Commons

Faith, faith, faith in ourselves, faith, faith in God this is the secret of greatness. If you
have faith in all the three hundred and thirty millions of your mythological gods, and in
all the gods which foreigners have now and again introduced into your midst, and still
have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for 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, or others are weak.

Are great things ever done smoothly? Time, patience, and indomitable will must show. I
could have told you many things that would have made your heart leap, but I will not. I
want iron wills and hearts that do not know how to quake. Hold on.

No need of looking behind. FORWARD! We want infinite energy, infinite zeal, infinite
courage, and infinite patience, then only will great things be achieved.

Do not figure out big plans at first, but begin slowly, feel your ground, and proceed up
and up.

Never mind the struggles, the mistakes. I never heard a cow tell a lie, but it is only a cow
never a man. So never mind these failures, these little backslidings; hold the ideal
thousand times, and if you fail a thousand times, make the attempt once more.

Struggle hard and then if you do not succeed, you are not to blame. [Source]

Be not in despair, the way is very difficult, like walking on the edge of a razor; yet
despair not, arise, awake,and find the ideal, the goal.

Do not wait for anybody or anything. Do whatever you can. Build your hope on none.
[Source]

The moment you fear, you are nobody. It is fear that is the great cause of misery in the
world. It is fear that is the greatest of all superstitions. It is fear that is the greatest of all
superstitions. It is the fear that is the cause of our woes, and it is fearlessness that brings
heaven even in a moment. Therefore 'Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.'

Be cheerful. . . . Hold on to your own ideal. . . . Above all, never attempt to guide or rule
others, or, as the Yankees say, "boss" others. Be the servant of all.[Source]

Be perfectly resigned, perfectly unconcerned; then alone can you do any true work. No
eyes can see the real forces; we can only see the results. Put out self, forget it; just let God
work, it is His business.

Each work has to pass through these stagesridicule, opposition, and then acceptance.
Those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood.

Go on bravely. Do not expect success in a day or a year. Always hold on to the highest.
Be steady. Avoid jealousy and selfishness. Be obedient and eternally faithful to the causes
of truth, humanity, and your country, and you will move the world. Remember it is the
person, the life, which is the secret of power nothing else.

Every successful man must have behind him somewhere tremendous integrity,
tremendous sincerity, and that is the cause of his signal success in life. He may not have
been perfectly unselfish; yet he was tending towards it. If he had been perfectly unselfish,
his would have been as great a success as that of the Buddha or of the Christ. The degree
of unselfishness marks the degree of success everywhere.[Source]

Go on bravely never mind about designs and other details at present "With the
horse will come the reins". Work unto death I am with you, and when I am gone, my
spirit will work with you. This life comes and goes wealth, fame, enjoyments are only

of a few days. It is better, far better to die on the field of duty, preaching the truth, than to
die like a worldly worm. Advance![Source]

Let people say whatever they like, stick to your own convictions, and rest assured, the
world will be at your feet. They say, "Have faith in this fellow or that fellow", but I say,
"Have faith in yourself first", that's the way. Have faith in yourselfall power is in you
be conscious and bring it out. Say, "I can do everything."[Source]

Every work has got to pass through hundreds of difficulties before succeeding. Those that
persevere will see the light, sooner or later.[Source]

Neither numbers nor powers nor wealth nor learning nor anything else will prevail, but
purity, living the lief, in one word, anubhuti, realization. Let there be a dozen such lionsouls in each country, lions who have broken their own bonds, who have touched the
infinite, whose whole soul is gone to Brahman, who care neither for wealth nor power
nor fame, and these will be enough to shake the world.

. . . Work on, my brave boys. We shall see the light some day. . . Let things slowly grow.
Rome was not built in a day.[Source]

Persevere on, my brave lads. We have only just begun. Never despond! Never say
enough!

Work on, brave hearts, fail not no saying nay; work on the Lord is behind the work.
Mahshakti is with you.[Source]

Work on! Hold on! Be brave! Dare anything and everything![Source]

Money all all will come of themselves, we want men, not money, It is man that makes
everything, what can money do?

One of the greatest lessons I have learnt in my life is to pay as much attention to the
means of work as to its end.... and it appears to me that all the secret of success is there;
to pay as much attention to the means as to the end.[Source]

Let us work without desire for name or fame or rule over the others. Let us be free from
the triple bonds of lust, greed of gain, and anger. And the truth is with us.

Our great defect in life is that we are so much drawn to the ideal, the goal is so much
more enchanting, so much more alluring, so much bigger in our mental horizon, that we
lose sight of the details altogether... One of the greatest lessons I have learnt in my life is
to pay as much attention to the means of work as to its end. He was a great man from
whom I learnt it, and his own life was a practical demonstration of this great principle I
have been always learning great lessons from that one principle, and it appears to me that
all the secret of success is there; to pay as much attention to the means as to the end.[Source]

The man who says that he will work when the world has become all good and then he
will enjoy bliss is as likely to succeed as the man who sits beside the Ganga and says, "I
will ford the river when all the water has run into the ocean."

Be moral. Be brave. Be a heart-whole man. Strictly moral, brave unto desperation.

Be of good cheer and believe that we are selected by the Lord to do great things, and we
will do them.

We would do nothing ourselves and would scoff at others who try to do something this
is the bane that has brought our downfall as a nation. Want of sympathy and lack of
energy are at the root of all misery, and you must therefore give these two up. Who but
the Lord knows what potentialities there are in particular individuals let all have
opportunities, and leave the rest to the Lord. It is indeed very difficult to have an equal
love for all, but without it there is no mukti.

Say, "This misery that I am suffering is of my own doing, and that very thing proves that
it will have to be undone by me alone." That which I created, I can demolish... Therefore
stand up, be bold, be strong, Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and
know that you are the creator of your destiny. All the strength and succour you want is
within yourself.

No great work can be achieved by humbug. It is through love, a passion for truth, and
tremendous energy, that all undertakings are accomplished.[Source]

The brave alone do great things, not the cowards. Know once for all, you faithless ones,
that I am in the hands of the Lord. So long as I am pure and His servant, not a hair of my
head will be touched. . . . Do something for the nation, then they will help you, then the
nation will be with you. Be brave, be brave! Man dies but once. My disciples must not be
cowards.[Source]

Take courage and work on. Patience and steady work this is the only way.

Work hard. Be holy and pure and the fire will come.[Source]

Purity, patience, and perseverance overcome all obstacles. All great things must of
necessity be slow.

When you feel gloomy, think what has been done within the last year. How, rising from
nothing.[Source]

I want each one of my children to be a hundred t