Anything that is secret and mysterious in

these systems of yoga should be at once

rejected. The best guide in life is strength.

In religion, as in all other matters, discard

everything that weakens you, have nothing to
do with it.

Be strong! Dont talk of ghosts and devils. We

are the living devils.

The sign of life is strength and growth. The

sign of death is weakness. Whatever is weak,
avoid! It is death. If it is strength, go down
into hell and get hold of it! There is salvation
only for the brave.

Brave, bold men, these are what we want.

What we want is vigour in the blood, strength
in the nerves, iron muscles and nerves of
steel,

not

softening

namby-pamby

Avoid all these. Avoid all mystery.

ideas.

By doing well the duty which is nearest to us,

the duty which is in our hands now, we make
ourselves

stronger;

and

improving

our

strength in this manner step by step, we may

reach a state in which it shall be our
privilege to do the most coveted and honored
duties in life and in society.

Doing good to others is virtue (dharma);

injuring others is sin. Strength and manliness
are virtue; weakness and cowardice are sin.
Independence is virtue; dependence is sin.

Loving others is virtue; hating others is sin.

Faith in God and in one's own self is virtue,
doubt is sin. Knowledge of oneness is virtue;
seeing diversity is sin.

Feel like Christ and you will be a Christ; feel

like Buddha and you will be a Buddha. It is
feeling that is the life, the strength, the
vitality,

without

which

no

amount

intellectual activity can reach God.

of

God is not to be reached by the weak. Never

be weak. You have infinite strength within
you. How else will you conquer anything?
How else will you come to God?

Hold on with faith and strength; be true, be

honest, be pure, and don't quarrel among
yourselves. Jealousy is the bane of our race.

If you want to be great materially, believe

that you are so.

I may be a little bubble, and you may be wave

mountain-high, but know that for both of us
the infinite ocean is the background, the
infinite Brahman is our magazine of power
and strength, and we can draw as much as
we like, both of us.

If there is no strength in body and mind, the

Atman cannot be realized. First you have to
build the body by good nutritious food - then
only will the mind be strong.

It is feeling that is the life, the strength, the

vitality,

without

which

no

amount

intellectual activity can reach God.

of

Infinite strength is religion and God.

Know that every time you feel weak, you not

only hurt yourself but also the cause. Infinite
faith and strength are the only conditions of
success.

Please

everybody

without

becoming

hypocrite and without being a coward.

Hold on to your own ideas with strength and

purity, and whatever obstructions may now
be in your way, the world is bound to listen to
you in the long run.

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.

Stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole

responsibility on your own shoulders, and
know that you are the creator of your own
destiny. All the strength and succour you
want is within yourself. Therefore make your
own future.

Strength is in goodness, in purity.

Strength is life, weakness is death. Strength

is felicity, life eternal, immortal. Weakness is
constant strain and misery; weakness is
death.

Strength is the medicine which the poor must

have when tyrannised over by the rich.
Strength is the medicine that the ignorant
must have when oppressed by the learned;
and it is the medicine that sinners must have
when tyrannised over by other sinners.

Strength is the sign of vigour, the sign of life,

the sign of hope, the sign of health, and the
sign of everything that is good. As long as the
body lives, there must be strength in the
body, strength in the mind, strength in the
hand.

Strength it is that we want so much in this

life, for what we call sin and sorrow have all
one cause, and that is our weakness.

The

difference

between

weakness

and

strength is one of degree; the difference

between virtue and vice is one of degree, the
difference between heaven and hell is one of
degree, the difference between life and death
is one of degree.

All differences in this world are of degree,

and not of kind, because oneness is the
secret of everything.

The highest manifestation of strength is to

keep ourselves calm and on our own feet.

The mind is but the subtle part of the body.

You must retain great strength in your mind
and words.

The remedy for weakness is not brooding

over weakness, but thinking of strength.

The world is ready to give up its secrets if we

only know how to knock, how to give it the
necessary blow. The strength and force of
the blow come through concentration.

Wait with patience and love and strength. If

helpers are not ready now, they will come in
time. Why should we be in a hurry? The real
working force of all great work is in its
almost unperceived beginnings.

What this world wants today, more than it

ever did before, is strength.

We are what our thoughts have made us; so

take care about what you think. Words are
secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.

Whatever you think, that you will be. If you

think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if
you think yourselves strong, strong you will
be.

Never think there is anything impossible...It

is the greatest heresy to think so.

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.

Arise, awake, sleep no more; within each of

you there is the power to remove all wants
and all miseries. Believe this, and that power
will be manifested.

Be free; hope for nothing from anyone. I am

sure if you look back upon your lives you will
find that you were always vainly trying to get
help from others which never came.

Be not afraid, for all great power throughout

the history of humanity has been with the
people. From out of their ranks have come all
the greatest geniuses of the world, and
history can only repeat itself. Be not afraid of
anything. You will do marvellous work.

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.

Calm and silent and steady work, and no

newspaper humbug, no name-making, you
must always remember.

Come out into the broad open light of day,

come out from the little narrow paths, for
how can the infinite soul rest content to live
and die in small ruts? Come out into the
universe of Light.

Everything in the universe is yours, stretch

out your arms and embrace it with love. If
you ever felt you wanted to do that, you have
felt God.

Cowards only sin, brave men never, no, not

even in mind.

Do not be afraid of a small beginning. great

things come afterwards. Be courageous. Do
not try to lead your brethren, but serve them.
The brutal mania for leading has sunk many a
great ships in the waters of life. Take care
especially of that, i.e. be unselfish even unto
death, and work.

Do not figure out big plans at first, but, begin

slowly, feel your ground and proceed up and
up.

Do not wait for anybody or anything. Do

whatever you can. Build your hope on none.

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; you will
move the world.

Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on

that faith and be strong; that is what we
need.

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.

I hate cowardice; I will have nothing to do

with cowards or political nonsense. I do not
believe in any politics. God and truth are the
only politics in the world, everything else is
trash.

I want each one of my children to be a

hundred times greater than I could ever be.
Everyone of you must be a giant - must, that
is my word. Obedience, readiness, and love
for the cause - if you have these three,
nothing can hold you back.

If you are really my children, you will fear

nothing, stop at nothing. You will be like
lions. We must rouse India and the whole
world. No cowardice.

If you can think that infinite power, infinite

knowledge and indomitable energy lie within
you, and if you can bring out that power, you
also can become like me.

Infinite patience, infinite purity, and infinite

perseverance are the secret of success in a
good cause.

It is our own mental attitude which makes

the world what it is for us. Our thoughts
make things beautiful, our thoughts make
things ugly. The whole world is in our own
minds. Learn to see things in the proper light.

Know that every time you feel weak, you not

only hurt yourself but also the cause. Infinite
faith and strength are the only conditions of
success.

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.

Man is born to conquer nature and not to

follow it.

Man never dies, nor is he ever born; bodies

die, but he never dies.

Neither numbers nor powers nor wealth nor

learning nor eloquence nor anything else will
prevail, but purity, living the life, in one word,
anubhuti, realisation.

Let there be a dozen such lion-souls 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.

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 a thousand times, and if you fail a
thousand times, make the attempt once
more.

No great work can be achieved by humbug. It

is through love, a passion for truth, and
tremendous energy, that all undertakings are
accomplished.

No need for looking behind. FORWARD! We

want infinite energy, infinite zeal, infinite
courage, and infinite patience, then only will
great things be achieved.

Oh, if only you knew yourselves! You are

souls; you are Gods. If ever I feel like
blaspheming, it is when I call you man.

Pay no attention whatsoever to newspaper

nonsense or criticism. Be sincere and do your
duty. Everything will come all right. Truth
must triumph.

Perfect sincerity, holiness, gigantic intellect,

and all-conquering will. Let only a handful of
men work with these, and the whole world
will be revolutionized.

Persevere on, my brave lads, We have only

just

begun.

enough!

Never

despond!

Never

say

Purity, perseverance, and energy - these

three I want.

Purity, patience and perseverance overcome

all

obstacles.

All

necessity be slow.

great

things

must

of

Say, "I can do everything." "Even if poison of

a snake is powerless if you can firmly deny
it."

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."

Take courage and work on. Patience and

steady work - this is the only way.

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your

life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea.
Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of
your body, be full of that idea, and just leave
every other idea alone. This is the way to
success, that is the way great spiritual
giants are produced.

"The earth is enjoyed by heroes" - this is the

unfailing truth. Be a hero. Always say, "I have
no fear".

The remedy for weakness is not brooding

over weakness, but thinking of strength.

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.

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.

To work with undaunted energy! What fear!

Who is powerful enough to thwart you.

Truth can be stated in a thousand different

ways, yet each one can be true.

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.

We are what our thoughts have made us; so

take care about what you think. Words are
secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far

We reap what we sow. We are the makers of

our own fate. None else has the blame, none
has the praise.

Whatever you think, that you will be. If you

think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if
you think yourselves strong, strong you will
be; if you think yourselves impure, impure
you will be; if you think yourselves pure, pure
you will be.