Excerpts from Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda - Divine Mother

The Divine Mother is the power of all causation. She energizes every cause unmistakably to produce the effect. Her will is the only law, and as She cannot make a mistake, nature's laws--Her will--can never be changed. She is the life of the law of karma, or causation. She is the fructifier of every action. Under Her guidance we are manufacturing our lives through our deeds or karma.

From notes discovered among Swami Vivekananda's papers. He evidently intended to write a book and jotted down these points for the work. Complete Works, 5:434.

Excerpts from Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

Do you feel for others? If you do, you are growing in oneness. If you do not feel for others, you may be the most intellectual giant ever born, but you will be nothing; you are but dry intellect, and you will remain so. And if you feel, even if you cannot read any book and do not know any language, you are in the right way. The Lord is yours. Complete Works Vol. 2 p.307

Excerpts from Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda

The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda ~ Volume 5 ~ Epistles - First Series ~ LXI Dr. Nanjunda Rao

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 cause 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. Keep this letter and read the last lines whenever you feel worried or jealous. Jealousy is the bane of all slaves. It is the bane of our nation. Avoid that always.

Excerpts from The Gospel of Holy Mother - Grief

People complain about their griefs and sorrows and how they pray to God but find no relief from pain. But grief itself is a gift from God. It is the symbol of His compassion. C220-2l & TN249 In the Company of the Holy Mother. By Her Direct Disciples. Calcutta : Advaita Ashrama, 1980 & Swami Tapasyananda and Swami Nikhilananda. Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother; Life and Conversations. Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1977.

Poverty, Wealth... (Excerpt from a article from RKM)

Poverty is a curse. It saps all energy, enthusiasm and higher aspirations of human beings. If a man is worried about his daily bread he cannot do any good to others. Material prosperity is only a means and not an end. It sets free people from the constant struggle for survival. But if it becomes an end then it becomes a curse. It unleashes all the animal instincts in man. Eat, drink and enjoy only such hedonistic ideas will prevail. Satisfaction of the physical cravings and no other higher ideal will dictate life. The purpose of evolution is to lift animal to man and man to divine. Here spiritual wisdom steps in. Secular life without spirituality is blind and spirituality without secular life is lame. Therefore the emphasis of the Vedas on both – from the stage of an active life one must move onto the life of spirituality. Our eternal soul is encased in an impermanent physical body. This covering of matter or the body is not everything. It has to be well looked after, taken care of but it should not become an object of worship. It should help us to discover the immortal soul inside.