TO MY BRAVE BOYS

TO MY BRAVE BOYS
( Swami Vivekananda, New York, 19 Nov.1894 )

Ninety per cent of human brutes you see are dead, are ghosts — for none lives, my boys, but he who loves. Feel, my children, feel; feel for the poor, the ignorant, the downtrodden; feel till the heart stops and the brain reels and you think you will go mad — then pour the so...ul out at the feet of the Lord, and then will come power, help, and indomitable energy. STRUGGLE, STRUGGLE, was my motto for the last ten years. STRUGGLE, still say I. When it was all dark, I used to say, STRUGGLE; when light is breaking in, I still say, STRUGGLE. Be not afraid, my children. Look not up in that attitude of fear towards that infinite starry vault as if it would crush you.

WAIT! In a few hours more, the whole of it will be under your feet. Wait, money does not pay, nor name; fame does not pay, nor learning. It is love that pays; it is character that cleaves its way through adamantine walls of difficulties.

Onward, my brave boys — money or no money — men or no men! Have you love? Have you God? Onward and forward to the breach, you are irresistible.

Take care! Beware of everything that is untrue; stick to truth and we shall succeed, maybe slowly, but surely. Work on as if I never existed. Work as if on each of you depended the whole work. FIFTY CENTURIES ARE LOOKING ON YOU, the future of INDIA depends on you. Work on. I do not know when I shall be able to come. This is a great field for work. They can at best praise in India, but they will not give a cent for anything; and where shall they get it, beggars themselves? Then, they have lost the faculty of doing public good for the last two thousand years or more. They are just learning the ideas of nation, public, etc. So I need not blame them.

Blessings to you all!
- Swami Vivekananda