Jawaharlal Nehru Quotes & Sayings

Without peace, all other dreams vanish and are reduced to ashes. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Remember always that there not so very much difference between various people as we seem to imagine. Maps and atlases show us countries in different colors. Undoubtedly people do differ from one another, but they resemble each other also a great deal, and it is well to keep this in mind and not misled by colors on the map or by national boundaries. — Jawaharlal Nehru

When the present is full of gloom, the past becomes haven of refuge that provides relief and inspiration. — Jawaharlal Nehru

I want nothing to do with any religion concerned with keeping the masses satisfied to live in hunger, filth, and ignorance. I want nothing to do with any order, religious or otherwise, which does not teach people that they are capable of becoming happier and more civilized on this earth, capable of becoming master of his fate and captain of his soul. — Jawaharlal Nehru

I have long believed that the only way peace can be achieved is through world government. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Wars are fought to gain a certain objective. War itself is not the objective; victory is not the objective; you fight to remove the obstruction that comes in the way of your objective. If you let victory become the end in itself then you've gone astray and forgotten what you were originally fighting about. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Citizenship consists in the service of the country. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Where freedom is menaced or justice threatened or where aggression takes place, we cannot be and shall not be neutral. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Restraint does not mean weakness. It does not mean giving in. — Jawaharlal Nehru

If I was asked what is the greatest treasure which India possesses and what is her finest heritage, I would answer unhesitatingly that it is the Samskrit language and literature and all that it contains. This is a magnificent inheritance and so long as this endures and influences the life of our people, so long will the basic genius of India continue. If our race forgot the Buddha, the Upanishads and the great epics (Ramayana and Mahabharata), India would cease to be India . — Jawaharlal Nehru

Because we have sought to cover up past evil, though it still persists, we have been powerless to check the new evil of today.Evil unchecked grows, Evil tolerated poisons the whole system. And because we have tolerated our past and present evils, international affairs are poisoned and law and justice have disappeared from them. — Jawaharlal Nehru

It is dangerous and harmful to be guided in our life's course by hatreds and aversions, for they are wasteful of energy and limit and twist the mind and prevent it from perceiving the truth. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Action to be effective must be directed to clearly conceived ends. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Without that passion and urge, there is a gradual oozing out of hope and vitality, a settling down on lower levels of existence, a slow merging into non-existence. We become prisoners of the past and some part of its immobility sticks to us. — Jawaharlal Nehru

In our society competitive capitalism has put family life and working life on a collision course.In Canada statistics show that over 70 percent of the burden of caring for children, the aged, the disabled and the sick falls on women most of whom receive no pay for these very essential tasks.Normally speaking, it may be said that the forces of capitalism, if left unchecked, tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer and thus increase the gap between them. — Jawaharlal Nehru

I have become a queer mixture of the East and the West, out of place everywhere, at home nowhere. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The Ganga to me is the symbol of India's memorable past which has been flowing into the present and continues to flow towards the ocean of the future. — Jawaharlal Nehru

But it is distressing that any organisation consisting of large numbers of young men, should be so utterly little minded and lacking in not only vision but in commonsense or common understanding. The R.S.S. is typical in this respect of the type of organisation that grew up in various parts of Europe in support of fascism ... — Jawaharlal Nehru

All the nations and peoples are too closely knit together today for any one of them to imagine that it can live apart. Peace has been said to be indivisible, so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The best and noblest gifts of humanity cannot be the monopoly of a particular race or country; its scope may not be limited nor may it be regarded as the miser's hoard buried underground. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Logic and cold reason are poor weapons to fight fear and distrust. Only faith and generosity can overcome them. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Life is like a game of cards.
The hand you are dealt is determinism;
The way you play it is free will. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The spectacle of what is called religion, or at any rate organised religion, in India and elsewhere, has filled me with horror and I have frequently condemned it and wished to make a clean sweep of it. Almost always it seemed to stand for blind belief and reaction, dogma and bigotry, superstition, exploitation and the preservation of vested interests. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Children are like buds in a garden and should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they are the future of the nation and the citizens of tomorrow. — Jawaharlal Nehru

History is the record of human progress, a record of the struggle of the advancement of the human mind, of the human spirit, towards some known or unknown objective. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Ignorance is always afraid of change. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse. — Jawaharlal Nehru

America is a country no one should go to for the first time. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The forces in a capitalist society, if left unchecked, tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. — Jawaharlal Nehru

There is nothing more horrifying than stupidity in action. — Jawaharlal Nehru

It is now clear that science is incapable of ordering life. A life is ordered by values. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Poverty anywhere is a danger to prosperity everywhere — Jawaharlal Nehru

Politics and Religion are obsolete. The time has come for Science and Spirituality. — Jawaharlal Nehru

In order to understand people, we have to understand their way of life and approach. If we wish to convince them, we have to use their language in the narrow sense of the mind. Something that goes even much further than that is not the appeal to logic and reason, but some kind of emotional awareness of the other people. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The light has gone out of our lives ... Yet I am wrong, for the light that shone in this country was no ordinary light ... and a thousand years later that light will still be seen in this country and the world will see it ... For that light represented the living truth. — Jawaharlal Nehru

When you imitate the enemy's tactics, you take on his liabilities. — Jawaharlal Nehru

There is perhaps nothing so bad and so dangerous in life as fear. — Jawaharlal Nehru

But if we go in for reservations on communal and caste basis, we swamp the bright and able people and remain second-rate or third-rate. I am grieved to learn of how far this business of reservation has gone based on communal considerations. It has amazed me to learn that even promotions are based sometimes on communal or caste considerations. This way lies not only folly, but disaster. Let us help the backward groups by all means, but never at the cost of efficiency. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Fine buildings, fine pictures and books and everything that is beautiful are certainly signs of civilization. But an even better sign is a fine man who is unselfish and works with others for the good of all. To work together is better than to work singly, and to work together for the common good is best of all. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Often in history we see that religion, which was meant to raise us and make us better and nobler, has made people behave like beasts. Instead of bringing enlightenment of them, it has often tried to keep them in the dark; instead of broadening their minds, it has frequently made them narrow-minded and intolerant of others. — Jawaharlal Nehru

I wish that more and more adventurous young men would give up the gun in favour of the camera. — Jawaharlal Nehru

A language is something infinitely greater than grammar and philology. It is the poetic testament of the genius of a race and a culture, and the living embodiment of the thoughts and fancies
that have moulded them — Jawaharlal Nehru

The ambition of the greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but so long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over. — Jawaharlal Nehru

In the name of religion many great and fine deeds have been performed. In the name of religion also, thousands and millions have been killed, and every possible crime has been committed. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Socialism is ... not only a way of life, but a certain scientific approach to social and economic problems. — Jawaharlal Nehru

It is better to understand a part of truth and apply it to our lives than to understand nothing at all and flounder helplessly in a vain attempt to pierce the mystery of existence. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The art of a people is a true mirror of their minds. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Every great revolution, whether it is right or not, we really know has any vital, urgent need to basis. It comes not just from itself. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Blood and tears are going to be our lot, whether we like them or not. Our blood and tears will flow; maybe the parched soil of India needs them so that the fine flower of freedom may grow again. — Jawaharlal Nehru

You can tell the condition of a nation by looking at the status of its women. — Jawaharlal Nehru

If in the modern world wars have unfortunately to be fought (and they do, it seems) then they must be stopped at the first possible moment, otherwise they corrupt us, they create new problems and make our future even more uncertain. That is more than morality; it's sense. — Jawaharlal Nehru

For the first time i began to think, consciously and deliberately of religion and other worlds. The Hindu religion especially went up in my estimation; not the ritual or ceremonial part, but it's great books, the "Upnishads", and the "Bhagavad Gita". — Jawaharlal Nehru

If any person raises his hand to strike down another on the ground of religion, I shall fight him till the last breath of my life, both as the head of the government and from the outside — Jawaharlal Nehru

Do not advise too much: do the job yourself. This is the only advice you can give to others. Do it and others will follow. — Jawaharlal Nehru

It is a fundamental rule of human life, that if the approach is good, the response is good. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The man who has gotten everything he wants is all in favor of peace and order. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere following Gandhi's assassination. — Jawaharlal Nehru

I wish to declare with all earnestness that I do not want any religious ceremonies performed for me after my death. I do not believe in such ceremonies, and to submit to them, even as a matter of form, would be hypocrisy and an attempt to delude ourselves and others. — Jawaharlal Nehru

If the world suffers from mental deterioration or from moral degradation, then something goes wrong at the very root of civilization or culture. Even though that civilization may drag out for a considerable period, it grows less and less vital and ultimately tumbles down. — Jawaharlal Nehru

But, after all, no safeguards are adequate, unless the will to give effect to them fully is present. — Jawaharlal Nehru

I am getting old and the sign of old age is that I begin to philosophize and ponder over problems which should not be my concern at all. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Unity must be of the mind and heart, a sense of belonging together and of facing together those who attack it. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Those who boast are seldom the great. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Its [Communism's] unfortunate association with violence encourages a certain evil tendency in human beings. — Jawaharlal Nehru

It is science alone that can solve the problems of hunger and poverty, of insanitation and illiteracy, of superstition and deadening custom and tradition, of vast resources running to waste, or a rich country inhabited by starving people ... Who indeed could afford to ignore science today? At every turn we have to seek its aid ... The future belongs to science and those who make friends with science. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Act with courage and dignity; stick to the ideals that give meaning to life. — Jawaharlal Nehru

What we need is a generation of peace. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Time is not measured by the passing of yaers but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves. — Jawaharlal Nehru

There is only one thing that remains to us, that cannot be taken away: to act with courage and dignity and to stick to the ideals that have given meaning to life. — Jawaharlal Nehru

No country or people who are slaves to dogma and the dogmatic mentality can progress, and unhappily our country and people have become extraordinarily dogmatic and little-minded — Jawaharlal Nehru

Please remember that law and sense are not always the same. — Jawaharlal Nehru

A man who is afraid will do anything. — Jawaharlal Nehru

History is almost always written by the victors and conquerors and gives their view. Or, at any rate, the victors' version is given prominence and holds the field. — Jawaharlal Nehru

A country is known by the way it treats its animals — Jawaharlal Nehru

Science and technology have freed humanity from many burdens and given us this new perspective and great power. This power can be used for the good of all. If wisdom governs our actions; but if the world is mad or foolish, it can destroy itself just when great advances and triumphs are almost without its grasp. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Long years ago, we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance — Jawaharlal Nehru

What the mysterious is I do not know. I do not call it God because God has come to mean much that I do not believe in. I find myself incapable of thinking of a deity or of any unknown supreme power in anthropomorphic terms, and the fact that many people think so is continually a source of surprise to me. Any idea of a personal God seems very odd to me. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The boundaries of democracy have to be widened so as to include economic equality also. This is the great revolution through which we are all passing. — Jawaharlal Nehru

A great disaster is a symbol to us to remember all the big things of life and forget the small things, of which we have thought too much. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Those who are prepared to die for any cause are seldom defeated. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The Bhagavad Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations and duties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the universe. — Jawaharlal Nehru

That great lover of peace, a man of giant stature who moulded, as few other men have done, the destinies of his age. — Jawaharlal Nehru

India has known the innocence and insouciance of childhood, the passion
and abandon of youth, and the ripe wisdom of maturity that comes from long experience of pain and pleasure; and over and over a gain she has renewed her childhood and youth and age — Jawaharlal Nehru

By education I am an Englishman, by views an internationalist, by culture a Muslim & a Hindu only by accident of birth. — Jawaharlal Nehru

A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The basic fact of today is the tremendous pace of change in human life. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Crises and deadlocks when they occur have at least this advantage, that they force us to think. — Jawaharlal Nehru

It is only too easy to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people. — Jawaharlal Nehru

The Ganga, especially, is the river of India, beloved of her people, round which are intertwined her memories, her hopes and fears, her songs of triumph, her victories and her defeats. She has been a symbol of India's age-long culture and civilization, ever changing, ever flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga. — Jawaharlal Nehru

I have always thought that the best way to find out what is right and what is not right, what should be done and what should not be done, is not to give a sermon, but to talk and discuss, and out of discussion sometimes a little bit of truth comes out. — Jawaharlal Nehru

You don't change the course of history by turning the faces of portraits to the wall. — Jawaharlal Nehru

I think that sacrifices of animals in the name of religion are barbarous and they degrade the name of religion. — Jawaharlal Nehru

India cannot sit on the fence anymore. It may have to make a choice. Either way it is going face problems, — Jawaharlal Nehru

The person who talks most of his own virtue is often the least virtuous. — Jawaharlal Nehru

It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of human ity. — Jawaharlal Nehru

Most things, except agriculture, can wait — Jawaharlal Nehru

Let us be a little humble; let us think that the truth may not perhaps be entirely with us. — Jawaharlal Nehru

What we really are matters more than what other people think of us. — Jawaharlal Nehru