Despondency Is Not Religion - Thoughts - By Swami Vivekananda - Source - The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 4.11
How can those minds that are gloomy and dull love? If they talk
of love, it is false; they want to hurt others. Think of the fanatics; they
make the longest faces, and all their religion is to fight against others in
word and act. Think of what they have done in the past, and of what they would do
now if they were given a free hand. They would deluge the whole world in blood
tomorrow if it would bring them power. By worshipping power and making long faces,
they lose every bit of love from their hearts. So the man who always feels
miserable will never come to God.
It is not religion, it is diabolism to say, ‘I am so
miserable.’ Every man has his own burden to bear. If you are miserable, try to be happy, try to conquer it. God
is not to be reached by the weak. Never be weak. You must be strong; you have
infinite strength within you. How else will you conquer anything? How else will
you come to God?
At the same time you must avoid excessive merriment,
Uddharsha, as it is called. A mind in that state never becomes calm; it becomes
fickle. Excessive merriment will always be followed by sorrow. Tears and
laughter are near kin. People so often run from one extreme to the other. Let
the mind be cheerful, but calm. Never let it run into excesses, because every
excess will be followed by a reaction.