If there’s one thing evident from the below quotes by Swami Vivekananda on education, it’s that he held it in high regard—almost as high as karma (action) itself.
The firebrand monk was never one for certain entities making social reforms. He wanted people to get educated so they could reform their own lives and surroundings. Even so, he was opposed to the European idea of teaching; he saw it as negative.
As you can see in the below quotes, Swami Vivekananda believed education was meant for life-building, character-building, and man-making. He advocated empowering people with the tools they needed to find their own path to attain the ultimate goal of freedom.
Here are 25 powerful quotes by Swami Vivekananda on education.
25 Quotes by Swami Vivekananda on Education
1. “Education may be described as a development of faculty, not an accumulation of words, or as a training of individuals to will rightly and efficiently.”
2. “We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one’s own feet.” [The real purpose of education]
3. “We will not be students always, but teachers also. There cannot be friendship without equality, and there cannot be equality when one party is always the teacher and the other party always sits at his feet. If you want equality with the Englishman or the American, you will have to teach as well as to learn, and you have plenty yet to teach to the world for centuries to come. This has to be done. Fire and enthusiasm must be in our blood.”
4. “Use the simplest language possible [while teaching], and you will succeed. The main feature should be the teaching of principles through stories. Don’t make it metaphysical at all.”
5. “If it is necessary to change any social custom the necessity underlying it should be found out first of all, and by altering it, the custom will die of itself.”
6. “How has all the knowledge in the world been gained but by the concentration of the mind? The world is ready to give up its secrets if we only know how to knock, how to give it the necessary blow. . . The more concentrated [the mind] is, the more power is brought to bear on one point; that is the secret.” [How to improve your concentration]
7. “Intelligence must not remain the monopoly of a cultured few; it will be disseminated from higher to lower classes. Education is coming, and compulsory education will follow.”
8. “[To improve our masses] we have to give them secular education. We have to follow the plan laid down by our ancestors, that is, to bring all the ideals slowly down among the masses. Raise them slowly up, raise them to equality.”
9. “Instead of frittering away our energy on ideal reforms, which will never become practical, we had better. . . educate our people, so they may be able to solve their own problems. . . Our right of interference is limited entirely to giving education.”
10. “The education that you are getting now. . . has a tremendous disadvantage which is so great that the good things are all weighed down. In the first place, it is not a man-making education; it is a negative education. [Such an education] is worse than death. The child is taken to a school and the first thing he learns is that his father is a fool, the second thing is that his grandfather is a lunatic, the third thing is that his teachers are hypocrites, the fourth that all the sacred books are lies! By the time he is 16, he is a mass of negation, lifeless and boneless. And the result is that fifty years of such education has not produced one original man in the three Presidencies.”
11. “The difference between architecture and building is that the former expresses an idea, while the latter is merely a structure built on economical principles. The value of matter depends solely on its capacities for expressing ideas.”
12. “We first observe facts, then generalize, and then draw conclusions and principles. The knowledge of the mind, of the internal nature of man, of thought, can never be had until we first have the power of observing the facts that are going on within.” [What to do when you get a new idea?]
13. “Suppose I had a child. I should not teach him any religion; I should teach him breathings—the practice of concentration and just one line of prayer, like, “I meditate on Him who is the Creator of this universe: may He enlighten my mind!” That way he would be educated, and then go about hearing different philosophers and teachers. He would select one who, he thought, would suit him best; and this man would become his Guru or teacher, and he would become a Shishya or disciple. . . Each one must have their own way.”
14. “The use of higher education is to find out how to solve the problems of life, and this is what is engaging the profound thought of the modern civilized world, but it was solved in our country thousands of years ago.”
15. “You cannot teach a child any more than you can grow a plant. . . It is a manifestation from within; it develops its own nature—you can only take away obstructions.”
16. “He whose book of the heart has been opened needs no other books. Their only value is to create desire in us. They are merely the experience of others.” [Read an explanation]
17. “The very essence of education is the concentration of mind, not the collecting of facts. If I had to do my education all over again. . . I would not study the facts at all. I would develop the power of concentration and detachment, and then with a perfect instrument I could collect facts at will.”
18. “Side by side should be developed the power of concentration and detachment. . . Almost all of our suffering is caused by our not having the power of detachment.”
19. “Education is not the amount of information that is put in your brain and runs riot there, undigested all your life. We must have life-building, man-making, character-building assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas and made them your life and character, you have got more education than any man who has got by heart a whole library.” [Read an explanation]
20. “The old idea was: ‘Develop one idea at the expense of all the rest.’ The modern way is ‘harmonious development.’ A third way is to ‘develop the mind and control it’, then put it where you will; the result will come quickly. This is developing yourself in the truest way. Learn concentration and use it in any direction.”
21. “The ass carrying its load of sandalwood knows only the weight and not the value of sandalwood.”
22. “Which state is my individuality? When I was a baby sprawling on the floor trying to swallow my thumb? Was that the individuality I should be sorry to lose? Fifty years hence I shall look upon this present state and laugh, just as I [now] look upon the baby state. Which of these individualities shall I keep?” [Empty your cup]
23. “A teacher who cannot convince others should weep on account of his own inability to teach people in their own language, instead of cursing them and dooming them to live in ignorance and superstition, setting up the plea that the higher knowledge is not for them.”
24. “The secret to life is not enjoyment, but education through experience. But, alas, we are called off the moment we really begin to learn [by death]. That seems to be a potent argument for a future life.”
25. “‘Fools alone say that work and philosophy are different, not the learned.’ The learned know that, though apparently different from each other, they at last lead to the same goal of human perfection.” [Always study philosophy]
Conclusion
So there you have it. 25 quotes by Swami Vivekananda that can change the way you think about education, learning, and growth.
If we apply his principles to ourselves, our family members, and people close to us, we can indeed discover ourselves and contribute to making the world a better place.
Which quote resonated the most with you? And how are you going to apply it to your life?
(Complement this post with Swami Vivekananda’s inspiring quotes on self-confidence, karma, and advice to the youth.)