Mahatma Gandhi Quotes & Mahatma Gandhi Sayings

"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest." "Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes." "Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress." "I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers." "I shall content myself with merely declaring my firm conviction that, for the seeker who would live in fear of God and who would see Him face to face, restraint in diet both as to quantity and quality is as essential as restraint in thought and speech." "It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence." "Live as if your were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." "The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within." "Where there is love there is life." "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." A 'NO' uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a 'YES' merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble. A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble. A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave. A living faith cannot be manufactured by the rule of majority A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes. A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes. A man of faith does not bargain or stipulate with God A man who throws himself on God ceases to fear man A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act. A man with a grain of faith in God never loses hope, because he ever believes in the ultimate triumph of Truth A person cannot do right in one department whilst attempting to do wrong in another department. Life is one indivisible whole. A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal. A vow is fixed and unalterable determination to do a thing, when such a determination is related to something noble which can only uplift the man who makes the resolve Action expresses priorities. Action is no less necessary than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human frame. Adaptability is not imitation. It means power of resistance and assimilation. All business depends upon men fulfilling their responsibilities. All faiths constitute a revelation of Truth, but all are imperfect and liable to error All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family, and each one of us is responsible for the misdeeds of all The Others. I cannot detach myself from the wickedest soul. All of your scholarship, all your study of Shakespeare and Wordsworth would be vain if at the same time you did not build your character and attain mastery over your thoughts and your actions Almost everything you do will seem insignificant, but it is important that you do it Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well. Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest. Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. An eye for an eye and everyone shall be blind An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind. An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind. An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching. An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so. Anger and intolerance are the twin enemies of correct understanding As a rule, the mind, residing in a body that has become weakened by pampering, is also weak, and where there is no strength of mind there can be no strength of soul. As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves. As long as you derive inner help and comfort from anything, keep it. Be the change that you want to see in the world. Be the change you want to see in the world. been more severely felt than today, especially in the context of India-Pakistan relations. Birth and death are not two different states, but they are different aspects of the same state. There is as little reason to deplore the one as there is to be pleased over the other. Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed. Consciously or unconsciously, everyone of us does render some service or another. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and it will make not only for our own happiness, but that of the world at large. Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy, as they undoubtedly are today Cowards can never be moral Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances. Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Even as a tree has a single trunk, but many branches and leaves, there is one religion but any number of faiths Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth. Every living faith must have within itself the power of rejuvenation if it is to live Exercise of faith will be the safest where there is a clear determination summarily to reject all that is contrary to truth and love Faith becomes lame, when it ventures into matters pertaining to reason Faith is not a delicate flower which would wither away under the slightest stormy weather Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into. Faith... must be enforced by reason.... When faith becomes blind it dies. Faith... Must be enforced by reason...When faith becomes blind it dies. Fear has its use but cowardice has none. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win. Force, violence, pressure, or compulsion with a view to conformity, are both uncivilized and undemocratic Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right. Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes. God comes to the hungry in the form of food. God forbid that India should ever take to industrialism after the manner of the west... keeping the world in chains. If [our nation] took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts. God has no religion Good government is no substitute for self-government Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress. Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. However much I may sympathise with and admire worthy motives, I am an uncompromising opponent of violent methods even to serve the noblest of causes. Hypocrisy and distortion are passing currents under the name of religion I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence. I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill. I believe in the fundamental Truth of all the great religions of the world. I believe that they are all God given. I came to the conclusion long ago... that all religions were true and also that all had some error in them. I claim that in losing the spinning wheel we lost our left lung. We are, therefore, suffering from galloping consumption. The restoration of the wheel arrests the progress of the fell disease. I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps. I claim to be an average man of less than average ability. I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith. I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence....I would rather have India resort to arms in order to defend her honour than that she should, in a cowardly manner, become or remain a helpless witness to her own dishonour. But I believe that nonviolence is infinitely superior to violence, forgiveness is more manly than punishment. Forgiveness adorns a soldier...But abstinence is forgiveness only when there is the power to punish; it is meaningless when it pretends to proceed from a helpless creature.... But I do not believe India to be helpless....I do not believe myself to be a helpless creature....Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. I do not believe in telling people of one's faith, especially with a view to conversion. Faith must be lived, and when it is, it becomes self-propagating. I do not like the word tolerance, but could not think of a better one. Tolerance implies a gratuitous assumption of the inferiority of other faiths to one’s own, whereas Ahimsa teaches us to entertain the same respect for the religious faiths of others as we accord to our own, thus admitting the imperfection of the latter. This admission will readily be made by a seeker of Truth who follows the law of love. If we had attained the full vision of Truth, we would no longer be seekers, but become one with God, for Truth is God. But being only seekers, we prosecute our quest and are conscious of our imperfection. And if we are imperfect ourselves, religion as conceived by us must also be imperfect. We have not realized religion in its perfection, even as we have not realized God. Religion of our conception, thus imperfect, is always subject to a process of evolution and re-interpretation. Progress towards Truth, towards God, is possible only because of such evolution. And if all faiths outlined by men are imperfect, the question of comparative merit does not arise. All faiths constitute a revelation of Truth, but all are imperfect and liable to error. Reverence to other faiths need not blind us to their faults. We must be keenly alive to the defects of our own faith, and must not leave it on that account but try to overcome those defects. Looking at all religions with an equal eye, we would not only not hesitate but would think it our duty to adopt into our faith every acceptable feature of other faiths. I eat to live, to serve, and also, if it so happens, to enjoy, but I do not eat for the sake of enjoyment. I first learned the concepts of non-violence in my marriage. I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul. I have learned through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmitted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmitted into a power that can move the world. I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and Non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could. I know nothing of the science of astrology and I consider it to be a science, if it is a science, of doubtful value, to be severely left alone by those who have any faith in Providence I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love. I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest. Even if the sacrifice demanded my very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it. If anybody said that I should die if I did not take beef-tea or mutton, even under medical advice, I would prefer death If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide. If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning. If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics encircles us today like the coil of a snake from which one cannot get out, no matter how much one tries. I wish therefore to wrestle with the snake. If we are to reach peace in this world and if we are to carry on a war against war, we shall have to begin with The Children If we are to respect others' religions as we would have them to respect our own, a friendly study of the world's religion is a sacred duty. If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with The Children. If we have listening ears, God speaks to us in our own language, whatever that language be If we wish to create a lasting peace we must begin with The Children. If you have faith in the cause and the means and in God, the hot sun will be cool for you If you have no character to lose, people will have no faith in you In a gentle way, you can shake the world. In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place. In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. In reality, they are not, ... Nowadays sterile eggs are also produced. The hen is not allowed to see the cock and yet it lays eggs. A sterile egg never develops into a chick. Therefore, he who can take milk should have no objection to taking sterile eggs. In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth. In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth. In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth. In this age of the rule of brute force, it is almost impossible for anyone to believe that any one else could possibly reject the law of the final supremacy of brute force Increase of material comforts, it may be generally laid down, does not in any way whatsoever conduce to moral growth. Indeed one's faith in one's plans and methods is truly tested when the horizon before one is the blackest. Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy. Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being. Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause Is it not enough to know the evil to shun it? If not, we should be sincere enough to admit that we love evil too well to give it up. It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence. It is difficult, but not impossible, to conduct strictly honest business It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business. It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver. It is open to a war resister to judge between the combatants and wish success to the one who has justice on his side. By so judging he is more likely to bring peace between the two than by remaining a mere spectator. It is the duty of every cultured man or woman to read sympathetically the scriptures of the world. If we are to respect others' religions as we would have them respect our own, a friendly study of the world's religions is a sacred duty. It is the reformer who is anxious for the reform, and not society, from which he should expect nothing better than opposition, abhorrence and even mortal persecution. It is the reformer who is anxious for the reform, and not society, from which he should expect nothing better than opposition, abhorrence and mortal persecution It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err. It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err. Joy lies in the fight, in the attempt, in the suffering involved, not in the victory itself Just as the body cannot exist without blood, so the soul needs the matchless and pure strength of faith Justice does not help those who slumber but helps only those who are vigilant. Justice that love gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. Love is the strongest force the world possesses, and yet it is the humblest imaginable Love never claims, it ever gives; love never suffers, never resents, never revenges itself. Where there is love there is life; hatred leads to destruction. Man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep. Men and women approaching retirement age should be recycled for public service work, and their companies should foot the bill. We can no longer afford to scrap-pile people. Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning. Men say I am a saint losing himself in politics. The fact is that I am a politician trying my hardest to become a saint. Monotony is the law of nature. Look at the monotonous manner in which the sun rises. The monotony of necessary occupation is exhilarating and life giving. Morality is contraband in war. My effort should never be to undermine another's faith but to make him a better follower of his own faith My faith runs so very much faster than my reason that I can challenge the whole world and say, 'God is, was and ever shall be' My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents and I lay them both at his feet. My life is an indivisible whole, and all my activities run into one another and they have their rise in my insatiable love of mankind My life is my message. My non-violence bids me dedicate myself to the service of the minorities. My work will be finished if I succeed in carrying conviction to the human family that every man or woman, however weak in body, is the guardian of his or her self-respect and liberty. N.B.: This quote refers to the British disarmament of the Indian Army. Gandhi never advocated the individual right to bear arms. Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do it Nobody can hurt me without my permission. Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty Non-violence is the article of faith. Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction. Non-violence which is a quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the brain. Nonviolence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being. Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. Not to have control over the senses is like sailing in a rudderless ship, bound to break to pieces on coming in contact with the very first rock Nothing can be more hurtful to an honourable man than that he should be accused of bad faith One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals One man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other departments. Life is one indivisible whole. one needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended gainst the heaviet odds Patience means self-suffering. Peace is its own reward. Peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and done by unarmed nations in the face of odds. Prayer is a confession of one's own unworthiness and weakness Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action. Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart. President means chief servant Purity of mind and idleness are incompatible Rationalists are admirable beings, rationalism is a hideous monster when it claims for itself omnipotence. Attribution of omnipotence to reason is as bad a piece of idolatry as is worship of stock and stone believing it to be God. I plead not for the suppression of reason, but for a due recognition of that in us which sanctifies reason. Remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS. Rights that do not flow from duty well performed are not worth having. Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory. Self-respect knows no considerations. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. That action alone is just that does not harm either party to a dispute That service is the noblest which is rendered for its own sake. The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. The control of the palate is a valuable aid for the control of the mind. The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems The future depends on what we do in the present. The good man is the friend of all living things. The greater our innocence, the greater our strength and the swifter our victory The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated The greatness of the human being is not in the reincarnation of the world but in the reincarnation of ourselves. The history of the world is full of men who rose to leadership, by sheer force of self-confidence, bravery and tenacity. The law an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. The law of love could be best understood and learned through little children The mantra becomes one's staff of life and carries one through every ordeal. Each repetition has a new meaning, carrying you nearer and nearer to God. The measure of a country's greatness should be based on how well it cares for its most vulnerable populations The mice which helplessly find themselves between the cats' teeth acquire no merit from their enforced sacrifice The more efficient a force is, the more silent and the more subtle it is. The most heinous and the most cruel crimes of which history has record have been committed under the cover of religion or equally noble motives The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within. The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one's opponent. The Roots of Violence: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice, Politics without principles The sacrifice which causes sorrow to the doer of the sacrifice is no sacrifice. Real sacrifice lightens the mind of the doer and gives him a sense of peace and joy. The Buddha gave up the pleasures of life because they had become painful to him. The true democrat is he who with purely nonviolent means defends his liberty and, therefore, his country's and ultimately that of the whole of mankind The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread. There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed. There is more to life than increasing its speed. There is no god higher than truth. There is no road towards peace; peace is the road There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them. They may torture my body, break my bones, even kill me-then they will have my dead body, not my obedience. Those who know how to think need no teachers. Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is. Three quarters of the miseries and misunderstandings in the world would finish if people were to put on the shoes of their adversaries and understood their points of view To a true artist only that face is beautiful which, quite apart from its exterior, shines with the truth within the soul To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest. To believe that what has not occurred in history will not occur at all, is to argue disbelief in the dignity of man. To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. To put up with. . . distortions and to stick to one's guns come what may -- this is the. . . gift of leadership. To run away from danger, instead of facing it, is to deny one's faith in man and God, even one's own self. It were better for one to drown oneself than live to declare such bankruptcy of faith. Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear. Truth never damages a cause that is just. Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking. Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it. We must always seek to ally ourselves with that part of the enemy that knows what is right We must become the change we want to see. What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is brought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy? What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy? What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea. Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do it Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it. When I admire the wonder of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in worship of the Creator When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall - think of it, <b>always</b>. Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love. Whenever you have truth it must be given with love, or the message and the messenger will be rejected Whenever you take a step forward, you are bound to disturb something. You disturb the air as you go forward, you disturb the dust, the ground. You trample upon things. When a whole society moves forward, this trampling is on a much bigger scale; and each thing that you disturb, each vested interest which you want to remove, stands as an obstacle. Whether humanity will consciously follow the law of love, I do not know. But that need not disturb me. The law will work just as the law of gravitation works, whether we accept it or not. The person who discovered the law of love was a far greater scientist than any of our modern scientists. Only our explorations have not gone far enough and so it is not possible for everyone to see all its workings. Whether one or many, I must declare my faith that it is better for India to discard violence altogether even for defending her borders You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind. You don't know who is important to you until you actually lose them You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result You must be the change you wish to see in the world. You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. Your capacity to keep your vow will depend on the purity of your life