Swami Vivekananda on Acceptance

#. Let everybody work out his own vision of this universe, according to his own ideas. Injure none, deny the position of none; take man where he stands and, if you can, lend him a helping hand and put him on a higher platform, but do not injure and do not destroy. All will come to the truth in the long run. "When all the desires of the heart will be vanquished, then this very mortal will become immortal"---then the very man will become God.

#. You must be all-forbearing, like Mother Earth. 

Swami Vivekananda on Conceit

#. Give up jealously and conceit. Learn to work unitedly for others.

#. Do not be proud; do not insist upon anything dogmatic; do not go against anything---ours is to put the chemicals together, the Lord knows how and when the crystal will form.

#. Do not try to lead your brethren, but serve them. The brutal mania for leading has sunk many a great ship in the waters of life. 

Swami Vivekananda on Courage

#. Be moral. Be brave. Be a heartwhole man. Strictly moral, brave unto desperation. Don't bother your head with religious theories. Only cowards sin, brave men never; no, not even in mind. Try to love anybody and everybody.

#. Be a man and try to make those immediately under your care, brave, moral, sympathising. No religion for you, my children, but morality and bravery. No cowardice, no sin, no crime, no weakness --- the rest will come of itself.  

Swami Vivekananda on Criticism

#. It is criticising each other that is at the root of all mischief. That is the chief factor in breaking down organizations. 

Swami Vivekananda on Dedication

#. Be like the pearl oyster. There is a pretty Indian fable to the effect that if it rains when the star Swati is in the ascendant, and a drop of rain falls into an oyster, that drop becomes a pearl. The oysters know this, so they come to the surface when the star shines, and wait to catch the precious rain-drop. When a drop falls into them, quickly the oysters close their shells and dive down to the bottom of the sea, there to patiently develop the drop into the pearl. We should be like that. First hear, then understand, and then, leaving all distractions, shut your minds to outside influences, and devote yourselves to developing the truth within you. There is the danger of frittering away your energies by taking up an idea only for its novelty, and again giving it up for another that is newer. Take one thing up and do it, and see the end of it, and before you have seen the end, do not give it up. He who can become mad with an idea, he alone sees light. Those that only take a nibble here and a nibble there will never attain anything. They may titillate their nerves for a moment, but there it will end...

#. 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, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced.

Swami Vivekananda on Destiny

#. 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 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.

#. Men generally lay all the blame of life on their fellowmen, or failing that, on God, or they conjure up a ghost, and say it is fate. Where is fate and who is fate? We reap what we sow. We are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise. The wind is blowing; those vessels whose sails are unfurled catch it, and go forward on their way, but those who have their sails furled do not catch the wind. Is that the fault of the wind?

#. 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; that which is created by someone else, I shall never be able to destroy. Therefore, 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 yourselves.

#. Make your own future. "Let the dead past bury its dead." The infinite future is before you, and you must always remember that each word, thought, and deed lays up a store for you, and that as the bad thoughts and bad works are ready to spring upon you like tigers, so also there is the inspiring hope that the good thoughts and good deeds are ready with the power of a hundred thousand angels to defend you always and for ever.

#. "It is the coward and the fool who says, 'This is fate'"-- so says the Sanskrit proverb. But it is the strong man who stands up and says, "I will make my fate". 

Swami Vivekananda on Diligence

#. Work hard. Be holy and pure, and the fire will come.