That is the one cause of misery: we are attached, we are being caught. Therefore Work constantly; work, but be not attached; be not caught. Reserve unto yourself the power of detaching yourself from everything, however beloved, however much the soul might yearn for it, however great the pangs of misery you feel if you were going to leave it; still, reserve the power of leaving it whenever you want. The weak have no place here, in this life or in any other life. Weakness leads to slavery. Weakness leads to all kinds of misery, physical and mental. Weakness is death. There are hundreds of thousands of microbes surrounding us, but they cannot harm us unless we become weak, until the body is ready and predisposed to receive them. There may be a million microbes of misery, floating about us. Never mind! They dare not approach us, they have no power to get a hold on us, until the mind is weakened. 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.
–Swami VivekanandaB1
Prathab 
This is total crap. I disagree with this quote on so many levels of my being I cant even begin to articulate my feelings towards it. First not only is it scientifically flawed it as if the Swami himself is somehow trying to psychologically defeat the struggle within himself over “weakness”.
Many things come out of periods of “weakness”. Some of the most famous people have suffered great bouts of “weakness” and have overcome them. Furthermore they were able to articulate their stories and struggles in literature, philosophy and even politics.
C Day,
you have misunderstood the point ‘weakness is death’. Actually your comment itself had the answer for your question. As you said, ‘Some of the most famous people have suffered great bouts of “weakness” and have overcome them.’ The point is that you need to overcome the weakness, being in the state of weakness leads to slavery. Here ‘death’ doesn’t mean physical death, it refers to the state of living in misery and slavery. Being strong is life and if you don’t overcome your weakness, it leads to death.
-Prathab
Prathab,
The article is enlightening. I only know the two lines but the paragraph was good. Only a consciousness and understanding of the inevitable form of the end of life can alone bring in a cherishing beauty to life. I remember swami vivekananda’s words a lot and everytime I remember them, it gives a positive thought that the weak are the ones who are afraid of the end of life, the strength of life lies in laughing at our weakness. Hope I made some sense
-Srikanth.
Hi all,
I like this discussion very much. One thing we need to understand that strength is required for all being to live. Now strength must be at the highest to get the highest level of success i.e., liberation.
The ripe source of strength is Brahmacharya. If one is not able to comprehend the subject of strength he should observe Brahmacharya for one year. And after that he will see the difference and the strength in himself which he never experienced before.
“strength is life weakness ” really in life we should be daring and dashing.if we fear there is nothing to do
“strength is life weakness is death” really in life we should be daring and dashing.if we fear there is nothing to do