Mahatma Gandhi Quotes

The socialistic conception of the West was born in an environment reeking with violence.

It is difficult to judge, when both sides are employing weapons of violence, which side 'deserves' to succeed.

The consumption of vegetables involves himsa, but I cannot give them up.

To yield to the threat or actual use of violence is a surrender of one's self respect and religious conviction.

None, while in flesh, can be entirely free from himsa, because one never completely renounces the will to live.

Any act of injury done from self-interest, whether amounting to killing or not, is doubtless himsa.

For me to dominate the Congress in spite of these fundamental differences is almost a species of violence which I must refrain from.

The bomb-throwers have discredited the cause of freedom, in whose name they threw the bombs.

The present war is the saturation point in violence. It spells, to my mind, also its doom.

Our nonviolence in respect of the Government is a result of our incapacity for effective violence.

Is it not possible for us all to realize that the masses will never mount to freedom through murder?

The difficulty one experiences in meeting himsa arises from weakness of mind.

When the panchayat raj is established, public opinion will do what violence can never do.

When there is no desire for fruit, there is also no temptation for untruth or himsa.

War knows no law except that of might.

History is a record of perpetual wars, but we are now trying to make new history.

A vow imparts stability, ballast and firmness to one's character.

Once Jesus had blazed the trail, his twelve disciples could carry on his mission without his presence.

The message of Jesus has proved ineffective because the environment was unready to receive it.

Civil disobedience can never be in general terms, such as for independence.

"All men are born equal and free" is not Nature's law in the literal sense.

Let no one try to justify the glaring difference between the classes and the masses, the prince and the pauper, by saying that the former need more.

The fear of the judge within is more terrible than that of the one without.

It needs more than a heart of oak to shed all fear except the fear of God.

Freedom of worship, even of public speech, would become a farce if interference became the order of the day.

Freedom received though the efforts of others, however benevolent, cannot be retained when such effort is withdrawn.

If we were strong, self-respecting and not susceptible to frightfulness, the foreign rulers would have been powerless for mischief.

Only the toad under the harrow knows where it pinches him.

I literally believe in the possibility of a Sudhanva smiling away whilst he was being drowned in boiling oil.

He who atones for sins never calculates; he pours out the whole essence of his contrite heart.

Swadeshism is not a cult of hatred. It is a doctrine of selfless service that has its roots in the purest ahimsa, i.e. love.

I swear by swadeshi as it affords occasion for ample exercise of all our faculties and it tests every one of the millions of men and women, young and old.

Swadeshi is the only doctrine consistent with the law of humanity and love.

I must not serve a distant neighbour at the expense of the nearest.

I refuse to buy from anybody anything however nice or beautiful if it interferes with my growth or injures those whom Nature has made my first care.

If the people resolve and carry out this programme of boycott and Swadeshi, they would not have to wait for Swaraj even for a year.

To shirk taking of vows betrays indecision and want of resolution.

The essence of a vow does not consist in the difficulty of its performance but in the determination behind it unflinchingly to stick to it in the teeth of difficulties.

Yajna is not yajna if one feels it to be burdensome or annoying.

Yajna having come to us with our birth, we are debtors all our lives, and thus for ever bound to serve the universe.

It is nature's kindness that we do not remember past births. Life would be a burden if we carried such a tremendous load of memories.

It's a big error to dream of a society where nobody needs to be good.

I like their Christ, but I don't like their Christians.

Everything that we do is insignificant...and...it is very important that we do it!

It is better to resist oppression by violent means than to submit, but it is best of all to resist by nonviolent means.

Your life is your message.

There are sufficient resources on this planet to answer the needs of all, but not enough to satisfy everyone's greed.

The test of friendship is assistance in adversity, and that, too, unconditional assistance.

Today, as it was 2,000 years ago, the Kingdom of God is within each of us. It is not within a church, a temple, a mosque or synagogue.

Seven blunders of the world that lead to violence.