GANDHI
QUOTES
Action
"You have
to do the right thing... You may never know what results come
from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result."
Animals
The greatness
of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its
animals are treated.
It ill becomes
us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of God, the Compassionate,
if we in turn will not practice elementary compassion towards
our fellow creatures.
I abhor vivisection
with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with
innocent blood I count as of no consequence.
To my mind,
the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.
The more helpless the creature, the more that it is entitled to
protection by man from the cruelty of man.
Beliefs
Constant development
is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his
dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false
position.
Children
If we are
ever to have real peace in this world we shall have to begin with
the children.
Ciitizenship
"Good
government is no substitute for self-government."
Civil Disobedience
Non-cooperation
is an attempt to awaken the masses, to a sense of their dignity
and power. This can only be done by enabling them to realize that
they need not fear brute force, if they would but know the soul
within.”
“An unjust
law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is
more so. Now the law of nonviolence says that violence should
be resisted not by counter-violence but by nonviolence. This I
do by breaking the law and by peacefully submitting to arrest
and imprisonment.”
Non-cooperation
is a measure of discipline and sacrifice, and it demands respect
for the opposite views.
Criticism
"If your heart
acquires strength, you will be able to remove blemishes from others
without thinking evil of them.
Democracy
I understand
democracy as something that gives the weak the same chance as
the strong.
To
safeguard democracy the people must have a keen sense of independence,
self-respect, and their oneness.
The
spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to
come from within.
In true democracy every man and women is taught to think for himself
or herself.
The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of
terrorism, whether governmental or popular.
"What
does it matter 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?"
Diversity
"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 humanity
is one undivided and indivisible family
Education
If we are
ever to have real peace in this world we shall have to begin with
the children.
Evil
"I
object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good
is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."
Non-cooperation
with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.
Capital as
such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in
some form or other will always be needed.
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.
Man's nature
is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been know to yield to
the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature.
Focus
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.
Forgiveness
The weak can
never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Forgiveness
is choosing to love. It is the first skill of self-giving love.
Freedom
"The cause
of liberty becomes a mockery if the price to be paid is the wholesale
destruction of those who are to enjoy liberty."
There is no
road to freedom. Freedom is the road.
Friendship
"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."
Future
The future
depends on what we do in the present.
I do not want
to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the
present.
Happiness
Happiness
is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Health
"It is
health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”
Hope
"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."
Human Rights
Rights that
do not flow from duty well performed are not worth having.
I learned
from my illiterate but wise mother that all rights to be deserved
and preserved came from duty well done. Thus the very right to
live accrues to us only when we do the duty of citizenship of
the world. From this one fundamental statement, perhaps it is
easy enough to define the duties of Man and Woman and correlate
every right to some corresponding duty to be first performed.
Every other right can be shown to be a usurpation hardly worth
fighting for.
If we all
discharge our duties, rights will not be far to seek. If leaving
duties unperformed we run after rights, they will escape us like
a will-o'-the-wisp."
Begin with
duties of a man and rights will follow as spring follows winter"
Humor
If I had no
sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.
Hunger
There are
people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them
except in the form of bread.
There can
be no rule of God in the present state of iniquitous inequalities
in which a few roll in riches and the masses do not get enough
to eat.
There's enough
on this planet for everyone's needs but not for everyone's greed.
Inner Peace
"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."
Integrity
They cannot
take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them.
A
"No" uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than
a "Yes" merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.
You
can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body,
but you will never imprison my mind.
Intention
A weak man
is just by accident. A strong but nonviolent man is unjust by
accident.
You must be
the change you wish to see in the world.
Interdependence
Interdependence
is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency.
Man is a social being.
Interfaith
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.
“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.”
What is faith
if it is not translated into action?
Joy
“Joy lies
in the fight, in the attempt, in the suffering involved, not in
the victory itself”
Service which
is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served.
But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness
before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy.
Leadership
I suppose
leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting
along with people.
Living
A Life of Compassion
Live as if
you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
I shall pass
through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do
or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do
it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this
way again.
"You have
to do the right thing... You may never know what results come
from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result."
"Be the change
you want to see in the world."
Movements
Every good
movement passes through five stages, indifference, ridicule, abuse,
repression, and respect. --
truthful movements
spontaneously attract to themselves all manner of pure and disinterested
help.
Nonviolence
"Nonviolence
s not to be used ever as the shield of the coward. It is the weapon
of the brave."
[He]
alone is truly nonviolent who remains nonviolent even though he
has the ability to strike.
"I object
to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only
temporary; the evil it does is permanent."
"An eye for
an eye leaves the whole world blind."
I contend
that non-violent acts exert pressure far more effective than violent
acts, for the pressure comes from goodwill and gentleness.
"Things undreamt
of are daily being seen, the impossible is ever becoming possible.
We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries
in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt
of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field
of nonviolence."
In the application
of the method of non-violence, one must believe in the possibility
of every person, however depraved, being reformed under humane
and skilled treatment.
"Nonviolence
is not to be used ever as the shield of the coward. It is the
weapon of the brave."
"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."
Courtesy
towards opponents and eagerness to understand their view-point
is the ABC of non-violence.
"If
one does not practice nonviolence in one's own personal relations
with others and hopes to use it in bigger affairs, one is vastly
mistaken."
Nuclear
So far as I can see, the atomic bomb has deadened the finest feeling
that has sustained for ages. There used to be so-called laws of
war, which made it tolerable. Now we know the truth. War knows no
law except that of might. The atomic bomb brought an empty victory
but it resulted for the time being in destroying the soul of Japan.
What has happened to the soul of the destroying nation is yet too
early to see...
Peace
It is possible
to live in peace.
Poverty
"Poverty is
the worst form of violence."
Purpose
My life is
an indivisible whole, and all my attitudes run into one another;
and they all have their rise in my insatiable love for mankind.
Root Causes
"A pacifism
which can see the cruelties only of occasional military warfare
and is blind to the continuous cruelties in our social system
is worthless."
Simplicity
There's enough
on this planet for everyone's needs but not for everyone's greed.
“Live simply
so that others may simply live.”
Man falls
from the pursuit of the ideal of plan living and high thinking
the moment he wants to multiply his daily wants. Man's happiness
really lies in contentment.
Thoughts
A man is but
the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.
Tolerance
Anger and
intolerance are the twin enemies of correct understanding.
Intolerance
betrays want of faith in one's cause.
Once one assumes
an attitude of intolerance, there is no knowing where it will
take one. Intolerance, someone has said, is violence to the intellect
and hatred is violence to the heart.
Truth
An error does
not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does
truth become error because nobody sees it.
Truth resides
in every human heart, and one has to search for it there, and
to be guided by truth as one sees it. But no one has a right to
coerce others to act according to his own view of truth.
Vegetarian
I do not regard
flesh-food as necessary for us at any stage and under any clime
in which it is possible for human beings ordinarily to live. I
hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying
the lower animal world - if we are superior to it.
Volunteer
"The best
way to find yourself, is to lose yourself in the service of others."
No More War
I am a man
of peace. I believe in peace. But I do not want peace at any price.
"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."
We Can Work
It Out
Courtesy towards
opponents and eagerness to understand their view-point is the
ABC of non-violence.
Wisdom
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.
