All expansion is life, all contraction is death. All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life.
Did Vivekananda say "All love is expansion, all..."?
In his words
Yes. Swami Vivekananda said this in Epistles, Second Series, LXXI (Complete Works, vol 6). It is from one of his letters. He said or wrote it in Bengali; the Complete Works prints an English translation. From a letter he wrote in Bengali, printed in English translation in vol 6. The wording is the translator's; the thought is his.
The version people share
“All love is expansion, all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life.”
Seen on: Goodreads.
What he said
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More in his words
They alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive.
The great secret of true success, of true happiness, then, is this: the man who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish man, is the most successful.
Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it, live on that idea.
Keep one line with you
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Send my weekQuestions people ask
Is "All love is expansion, all..." in the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda?
Yes. Swami Vivekananda said this in Epistles, Second Series, LXXI (Complete Works, vol 6). It is from one of his letters.
How do you check a Vivekananda quote?
Search a distinctive phrase in the Complete Works (Advaita Ashrama, nine volumes; the text is on ramakrishnavivekananda.info and Wikisource). If only quote sites carry it, with no volume or lecture named, treat it as unverified.
Sources and method
Matched against The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, Mayavati Memorial Edition, vols 1 to 8 (9,239 paragraphs, Bengali translations checked separately), with Python difflib. In his words: 90 or more out of 100. Paraphrase: 70 to 90. Not in his works: under 70, and no hit in a phrase search of Wikisource across all volumes, including vol 9. This line scored 57.