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
Did Vivekananda say "The great secret of true success..."?
In his words
Yes. Swami Vivekananda said this in Work and its Secret (Complete Works, vol 2). The lecture says "the man who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish man". Shared copies often change it to "the man or woman".
The version people share
“The great secret of true success, of true happiness, is this: the man or woman who asks for no return, the perfectly unselfish person, is the most successful.”
Seen on: Goodreads.
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Is "The great secret of true success..." in the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda?
Yes. Swami Vivekananda said this in Work and its Secret (Complete Works, vol 2).
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 93.