Mahatma Gandhi Quotes

Ill-digested principles are, if anything, worse than ill-digested food, for the latter harms the body and there is cure for it, whereas the former ruins the soul and there is no cure for it.

A dissolute character is more dissolute in thought than in deed. And the same is true of violence. Our violence in word and deed is but a feeble echo of the surging violence of thought in us.

If you want something done, ask. If you want something done quickly, ask, and then begin counting down from ten with no explanation.

Ahimsa is one of the world's great principles, which no power on earth can wipe out.

Without real nonviolence, there would be perfect anarchy.

Total nonviolent non-cooperation has no place in popular Raj, whatever its level may be.

The movement of nonviolent non-co-operation has nothing in common with the historical struggles for freedom in the West.

For a nonviolent struggle, there is no age limit. The blind, the maimed and the bed-ridden may serve, and not only men but women also.

Unless nonviolence of the strong is really developed among us, there should be no thought of civil disobedience for Swaraj, whether within the states or in British India.

Moral restrictions tend to become lax in a foreign country, since the fear of social opinion disappears.

It is difficult for me to regard anyone who obeys no moral principle in his conduct to be a religious man.

A popular government wields a moral force, which is infinitely superior to the physical force that the foreign government could summon to its assistance.

Prayer is a sign of repentance, a desire to become better, purer.

Prayer is either petitional or, in its wider sense, inward communion.

Prayer is no mere exercise of words or of the ears, it is no mere repetition of empty formula.

True prayer is not a prelude to inaction.

Virtue lies in being absorbed in one's prayers in the presence of din and noise.

My attempt and prayer are and will be for an honorable peace between belligerent nations in the least possible time.

The meaning of prayer is that I want to evoke that Divinity within me.

Prayer has been the saviour of my life. Without it I should have been a lunatic long ago.

Prayer has not been a part of my life in the sense that truth has been.

A man of prayer regards what are known as physical calamities as divine chastisement.

Close the day with prayer so that you may have a peaceful night free from dreams and nightmares.

Religion should be dearer than life itself.

All my actions have their rise in my inalienable love of mankind.

The only true resistance to this Government... [is] to cease to co-operate with it.

If you approached people with trust and affection you would have ten-fold trust and thousand-fold.

A person who has truly realized the principle of nonviolence has the God given strength for his weapon, and the world has not yet known anything that can match it.

Freedom is like birth. Till we are fully free, we are slaves.

Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth and the soul requires inward restfulness to attain its full height.

What does it matter that we take different roads so long as we reach the same goal?

The real test of nonviolence lies in its being brought in contact with those who have contempt for it.

Fear is not a disease of the body; fear kills the soul.

My commitment is to truth not consistency.

It is possible for a single individual to defy the whole might of an unjust empire to save his honor, his religion, his soul and lay the foundation for the empire's fall or its regeneration.

It is knowledge that ultimately gives salvation.

Life becomes livable only to the extent that death is treated as a friend, never as an enemy.

... the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties driven asunder.

... we have to learn to use that force (love) among all that lives, and in the use of it consists our knowledge of God. Where there is love there is life; hatred leads to destruction.

Religion taught us to return good for evil.

Purest religion is highest expediency. Many things are lawful but they are not all expedient.

I am a proud staunch Sanatani Hindu.

By noiselessly going to a prison a civil-resister ensures a calm atmosphere.

My own veneration for other faiths is the same as that for my own faith; therefore no thought of conversion is possible

Those who cannot renounce attachment to the results of their work are far from the path.

The one religion is beyond all speech.

Faith is put to the test when the situation is most difficult.

Ashram means a community of men of religion. I feel that an ashram was a necessity of life for me.

I have no disciples, being myself an aspirant after discipleship and in search of a guru.

The hardest heart and the grossest ignorance must disappear before the rising sun of suffering without anger and without malice.