स्वामी विवेकानंद – युवाओं के प्रेरणा-स्रोत के रूप में
स्वामीजी ने किशोरों और युवाओं (नई पीढ़ी) को
सबसे अधिक महत्वपूर्ण बताया है; उनका कहना था:
*
“नौजवान आशावादी होते हैं, और वृद्ध निराशावादी|”
* “तरुण के सामने अभी उसका सारा जीवन पड़ा है; जबकि वृद्ध को
सदा शिकायत रहती है कि उसका समय निकल गया|”
*
“सबसे पहले हमारे नवयुवकों को बलशाली होना चाहिए|”
* “साहसी और निष्कपट बनो;
उसके बाद जिस मार्ग पर चाहो, अपनी इच्छानुसार भक्तिपूर्वक अग्रसर होओ; निश्चित ही
उस पूर्ण वस्तु को प्राप्त करने में सफल होओगे|”
*
तब तक शिक्षा ग्रहण करो जब
तक तुम्हारा मुख ब्रह्मविद् के समान दिव्य भाव से चमक नहीं उठता|”
*
“Youth of India
arise. 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…”
(III.
278-279)
*
“Arise,
awake, for your country needs this tremendous sacrifice. It is the young men
that will do it. ‘The young, the energetic, the strong, the well-built, the
intellectual’ – for them is the task.”
(III. 318)
*
“Do not be
frightened. Awake, be up and doing. Do not stop till you have reached the
goal.”
(II. 140)
*
“My children
must be ready to jump into fire, if needed, to accomplish their work. Now work,
work, work! We will stop and compare notes later on. Have patience,
perseverance and purity.”
(V.61)
*
“India wants
sacrifice of at least a thousand of her young men – men, mind and not brutes.”
(V.10)
*
“My faith is
in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will come my
workers. They will work out the whole problem, like lions.”
(V. 223)
*
“My child,
what I want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel, inside which dwells a mind
of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made. Strength,
manhood, क्षात्र-वीर्य+ब्रह्म-तेज.”
(V.
117)
*
“Work unto
death – I am with you, and when I am gone, my spirit will work for you. This
life comes and goes – wealth, fame, enjoyments are only of a few days. It is
better, for better to die on the field of duty, preaching the truth, than to
die like a worldly worm.”
(V.
114-115)
*
“Truth,
purity, and unselfishness – wherever these are present, there is no power below
or above the sun to crush the possessor thereof. Equipped with these, one
individual is able to face the whole universe in opposition.”
(IV.
279)
*
“Lay down
your comforts, your pleasures, your names, fame or positions, nay, even your
lives and make a bridge of human chains over which millions will cross the
ocean of live.”
(IV.
352)