--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Despondency is not religion, whatever…" description: "\"Despondency is not religion, whatever else it may be.\" — Swami Vivekananda" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5de/swami-vivekananda-53_despondency_despondency-is-not-religion-whatever-els_2022058.jpg" --- # Despondency is not religion, whatever else it may be. ![“Despondency is not religion, whatever else it may be.” quote by Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5de/swami-vivekananda-53_despondency_despondency-is-not-religion-whatever-els_2022058.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5de/swami-vivekananda-53_despondency_despondency-is-not-religion-whatever-els_2022058.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5de/swami-vivekananda-53_despondency_despondency-is-not-religion-whatever-els_2022058.jpg) > “Despondency is not religion, whatever else it may be.” [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Despondency is not a religion; it is a state of mind that can exist regardless of spiritual belief. **In simple terms:** Sadness isn’t a faith. Key Takeaway Cultivate resilience beyond belief systems. Themes spirituality mental health philosophy Mood calm hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crises - spiritual practice - mental health counseling Key Concepts existentialism psychology well‑being Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate between spiritual practice and emotional coping? - What practices help you move beyond despondency? A Different Perspective Relying solely on faith may not address emotional struggles. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Despondency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despondency/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) ## Related quotes > [I elbowed my way into the grubby café, bought a pie that tasted of shoe polish and a pot of tea with cork crumbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-elbowed-my-way-into-the-grubby-caf-bought-a-pie-that-tasted-of-shoe/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [“Such despondency is rarely psychologically devastating, but when combined with defensive reasoning, it can result in a formidable predisposition against learning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-review/such-despondency-is-rarely-psychologically-devastating-but-when/) [Harvard Business Review](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvard-business-review/) > [From nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/from-nothing-else-but-the-brain-come-joys-delights-laughter-and/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [ Ready-to-Halt, Poor Fearing, and thou, Mrs. Despondency, and Much-afraid, go often there \[the empty tomb\]; let it be your favorite haunt. There build a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/ready-to-halt-poor-fearing-and-thou-mrs-despondency-and-much-afraid/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [“You have fallen into a fit of despondency, and there is not the least need! In fact, nothing could be more fatal, in any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgette-heyer/you-have-fallen-into-a-fit-of-despondency-and-there-is-not-the-least/) [Georgette Heyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgette-heyer/) > [Never accept despondency. Never lose heart. You don't know what tomorrow will bring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anil-sinha/never-accept-despondency-never-lose-heart-you-don-t-know-what/) [Anil Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anil-sinha/) > [A man who is pressing forward to accomplish worthy goals can soon put despondency under his feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/a-man-who-is-pressing-forward-to-accomplish-worthy-goals-can-soon-put/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [To believe a business impossible is the way to make it so. How many feasible projects have miscarried through despondency, and been strangled in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-collier/to-believe-a-business-impossible-is-the-way-to-make-it-so-how-many/) [Jeremy Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-collier/) > [“The great chasm between the thing I say, & the thing I would say, wd be quite dispiriting to me, in spite even of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/the-great-chasm-between-the-thing-i-say-the-thing-i-would-say-wd-be/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [“When something drops into your life that seems to threaten your future, remember this: the first shockwaves of the bomb are not sin. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/when-something-drops-into-your-life-that-seems-to-threaten-your/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [I ought not to doubt the steadiness of your affection. Yet such is the inconsistency of real love, that it is always awake to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-radcliffe/i-ought-not-to-doubt-the-steadiness-of-your-affection-yet-such-is-the/) [Ann Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-radcliffe/) > [One receives as reward for much ennui, despondency, boredom -such as a solitude without friends, books, duties, passions must bring with it -those quarter-hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-receives-as-reward-for-much-ennui-despondency-boredom-such-as-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/men-ought-to-know-that-from-nothing-else-but-the-brain-come-joys/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [“Don't regret your despondency in the shadows of evil, for the good light never did anything to erase your misery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/don-t-regret-your-despondency-in-the-shadows-of-evil-for-the-good/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) ## More by Swami Vivekananda > [Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good; every action that retards it is evil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/every-action-that-helps-us-manifest-our-divine-nature-more-and-more/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Holiness sincerity, and faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/holiness-sincerity-and-faith/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The Hindus have a peculiar slovenliness in business matters, not being sufficiently methodical and strict in keeping accounts etc.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-hindus-have-a-peculiar-slovenliness-in-business-matters-not-being/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Renunciation is in our blood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/renunciation-is-in-our-blood/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Let positive, strong, helpful thoughts enter into your brains from very childhood. Lay yourselves open to these thoughts, and not to weakening and paralysing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/let-positive-strong-helpful-thoughts-enter-into-your-brains-from-very/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Where can we go to find God if we cannot see Him in our own hearts and in every living being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/where-can-we-go-to-find-god-if-we-cannot-see-him-in-our-own-hearts/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [It is the free alone which never changes, and the unchangeable alone which is free; for change is produced by something exterior to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/it-is-the-free-alone-which-never-changes-and-the-unchangeable-alone/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Above all, India is the land of religion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/above-all-india-is-the-land-of-religion/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The awakening of the soul to its bondage and its effort to stand up and assert itself - this is called life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/the-awakening-of-the-soul-to-its-bondage-and-its-effort-to-stand-up/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [It is the Prana that is manifesting as motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/it-is-the-prana-that-is-manifesting-as-motion/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Though an atom is invisible, unthinkable, yet in it are the whole power and potency of the universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/though-an-atom-is-invisible-unthinkable-yet-in-it-are-the-whole-power/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Nothing can be produced without a cause, and the effect is but the cause reproduced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/nothing-can-be-produced-without-a-cause-and-the-effect-is-but-the/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [All the strength and succour you want is within yourselves. Therefore make your own future. "Let the dead past bury its dead." The infinite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/all-the-strength-and-succour-you-want-is-within-yourselves-therefore/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Be brave! Be strong! Be fearless! Once you have taken up the spiritual life, fight as long as there is any life in you.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/be-brave-be-strong-be-fearless-once-you-have-taken-up-the-spiritual/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“there is a continuity of mind, as the Yogis call it. The mind is universal. Your mind, my mind, all these little minds, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/there-is-a-continuity-of-mind-as-the-yogis-call-it-the-mind-is/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) [Explore all 1,889 Swami Vivekananda quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) ## More Despondency quotes > [I elbowed my way into the grubby café, bought a pie that tasted of shoe polish and a pot of tea with cork crumbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/i-elbowed-my-way-into-the-grubby-caf-bought-a-pie-that-tasted-of-shoe/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/spirit-of-beauty-that-dost-consecrate-with-thine-own-hues-all-thou/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [Men ought to know that from nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/men-ought-to-know-that-from-nothing-else-but-the-brain-come-joys/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [One receives as reward for much ennui, despondency, boredom -such as a solitude without friends, books, duties, passions must bring with it -those quarter-hours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-receives-as-reward-for-much-ennui-despondency-boredom-such-as-a/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I ought not to doubt the steadiness of your affection. Yet such is the inconsistency of real love, that it is always awake to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-radcliffe/i-ought-not-to-doubt-the-steadiness-of-your-affection-yet-such-is-the/) [Ann Radcliffe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-radcliffe/) > [“When something drops into your life that seems to threaten your future, remember this: the first shockwaves of the bomb are not sin. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/when-something-drops-into-your-life-that-seems-to-threaten-your/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [“The great chasm between the thing I say, & the thing I would say, wd be quite dispiriting to me, in spite even of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/the-great-chasm-between-the-thing-i-say-the-thing-i-would-say-wd-be/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [To believe a business impossible is the way to make it so. How many feasible projects have miscarried through despondency, and been strangled in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-collier/to-believe-a-business-impossible-is-the-way-to-make-it-so-how-many/) [Jeremy Collier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-collier/) > [A man who is pressing forward to accomplish worthy goals can soon put despondency under his feet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/a-man-who-is-pressing-forward-to-accomplish-worthy-goals-can-soon-put/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [Never accept despondency. Never lose heart. You don't know what tomorrow will bring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anil-sinha/never-accept-despondency-never-lose-heart-you-don-t-know-what/) [Anil Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anil-sinha/) > [“You have fallen into a fit of despondency, and there is not the least need! In fact, nothing could be more fatal, in any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georgette-heyer/you-have-fallen-into-a-fit-of-despondency-and-there-is-not-the-least/) [Georgette Heyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georgette-heyer/) > [ Ready-to-Halt, Poor Fearing, and thou, Mrs. Despondency, and Much-afraid, go often there \[the empty tomb\]; let it be your favorite haunt. There build a… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/ready-to-halt-poor-fearing-and-thou-mrs-despondency-and-much-afraid/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [From nothing else but the brain come joys, delights, laughter and sports, and sorrows, griefs, despondency, and lamentations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/from-nothing-else-but-the-brain-come-joys-delights-laughter-and/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [“Such despondency is rarely psychologically devastating, but when combined with defensive reasoning, it can result in a formidable predisposition against learning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvard-business-review/such-despondency-is-rarely-psychologically-devastating-but-when/) [Harvard Business Review](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvard-business-review/) > [“Don't regret your despondency in the shadows of evil, for the good light never did anything to erase your misery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/don-t-regret-your-despondency-in-the-shadows-of-evil-for-the-good/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) [Browse all 79 Despondency quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despondency/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Despondency is not religion, whatever else it may be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Swami Vivekananda" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/despondency-is-not-religion-whatever-else-it-may-be/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Despondency" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/despondency-is-not-religion-whatever-else-it-may-be/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5de/swami-vivekananda-53_despondency_despondency-is-not-religion-whatever-els_2022058.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5de/swami-vivekananda-53_despondency_despondency-is-not-religion-whatever-els_2022058.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5de/swami-vivekananda-53_despondency_despondency-is-not-religion-whatever-els_2022058.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Despondency is not religion, whatever else it may be.” — Swami Vivekananda", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Swami Vivekananda", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Despondency is not religion, whatever else...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/despondency-is-not-religion-whatever-else-it-may-be/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/despondency-is-not-religion-whatever-else-it-may-be/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```