Swami Vivekananda, one of India's greatest spiritual gurus, is recognized for having elevated Hindu philosophy to a global prominence. Born in Kolkata on January 12, 1863, as Narendra Nath Datta, he belonged to an elite Bengali Kayastha family and was descended from the renowned Dakshineshwar Kali Temple priest Thakur Ramkrishna Paramhansa. He gave up worldly pleasures and became a sanyasi, not so that he could wander aimlessly but so that he could serve people. Swami Vivekanada played a significant role in putting India on the spiritual map of the world by introducing the world to the Indian Vendanta and Yoga philosophies. His well-known speech at the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions in Chicago altered people's perceptions of India for all time.

We present you some of the timeless and always relevant quotes about success by the great Swami Vivekananda on his birth anniversary today.

1. Arise, awake, and stop not until the goal is achieved
2. Talk to yourself once in a day, otherwise, you may miss meeting an excellent person in this world.
3. Take risks in your life. If you win, you can lead, if you lose, you can guide.
4. Learn everything that is good from others but bring it in, and in your own way absorb it; do not become others.
5. Do not wait for anybody or anything. Do whatever you can, build your hope on none.
6. Never think yourself weak.
7. You have to grow from the inside out.
8. A man is not poor without a rupee but a man is really poor without a dream and ambition.
9. Take up one idea, make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it, 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.
10. Do one thing at a time, and while doing it put your whole soul into it to the exclusion of all else.
11. See for the highest, aim at the highest, and you shall reach the highest.

Vivekananda, the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission, not only brought back our historic heritage but also awoke people's religious consciousness and worked to uplift the oppressed. Along with these accomplishments, he is recognized for having revived Hinduism, promoted nationalism in 19th-century India, and increased interfaith understanding.