Strength is life, weakness is death.
Did Vivekananda say "Strength is life, weakness is..."?
Paraphrase
Partly. The shared line is a reworded version of what he said in Work and its Secret (Complete Works, vol 2). Two works stitched together. "Strength is life, weakness is death" is from Work and Its Secret (vol 2). "Expansion is life, contraction is death. Love is life, and hatred is death" is from Reply to the Calcutta Address (vol 4).
The version people share
“Strength is life, weakness is death. Expansion is life, contraction is death. Love is life, hatred is death.”
Seen on: Goodreads, BrainyQuote.
What he said
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Also in his words
“Expansion is life, contraction is death. Love is life, and hatred is death.” Complete Works vol 4, Reply to the Calcutta Address.
More in his words
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Is "Strength is life, weakness is..." in the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda?
Partly. The shared line is a reworded version of what he said 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 80.