Mahatma Gandhi Best Quotes & Sayings

Satyagraha does not begin and end with civil disobedience. — Mahatma Gandhi

I invite even the school of violence to give this peaceful non-co-operation a trial. — Mahatma Gandhi

If any Englishman dedicated his life to securing the freedom of India, resisting tyranny and serving the land, I should welcome that Englishman as an Indian. — Mahatma Gandhi

Peace is neither taken nor given, only recognized within. — Mahatma Gandhi

If there is any substance in what I have said, will not the great missionary bodies of India, to whom she owes a deep debt of gratitude for what they have done and are doing, do still better and serve the spirit of Christianity better by dropping the goal of proselytising while continuing their philanthropic work? — Mahatma Gandhi

My modesty has prevented me from declaring from the house top that the message of non-co-operation, nonviolence and swadeshi is a message to the world. — Mahatma Gandhi

Nonviolence succeeds only when we have a real living faith in God. — Mahatma Gandhi

Who can deny that much that passes for science and art today destroys the soul instead of uplifting it and instead of evoking the best in us, panders to our basest passions? — Mahatma Gandhi

The best way of losing a cause is to abuse your opponent and to trade upon his weakness. — Mahatma Gandhi

Heroes are made in the hour of defeat. Success is, therefore, well described as a series of glorious defeats. — Mahatma Gandhi

Complete independence through truth and non-violence means the independence of every unit, be it the humblest of the nation, without distinction of race, colour or creed. — Mahatma Gandhi

If we have lost faith in our vernaculars, it is a sign of want of faith in ourselves; it is the surest sign of decay. — Mahatma Gandhi

Peace between countries must rest on the solid foundation of love between individuals. - MAHATMA GANDHI — Pema Chodron

Voluntary service of others demands the best of which one is capable, and must take precedence over service of self. — Mahatma Gandhi

Friendship that insists upon agreement on all things isn't worth the name. — Mahatma Gandhi

While in Bombay, I began, on one hand, my study of Indian law and, on the other, my experiments in dietetics in which Virchand Gandhi, a friend, joined me. My brother, for his part was trying his best to get me briefs. The study of India law was a tedious business. The Civil Procedure Code I could in no way get on with. Not so however, with the Evidence Act. Virchand Gandhi was reading for the Solicitor's Examination and would tell me all sorts of stories about Barristers and Vakils. — Mahatma Gandhi

The weak can never forgive. — Mahatma Gandhi

The Charkha is an outward symbol of truth and nonviolence. — Mahatma Gandhi

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

people who have made India awesome aren't all politicians. Most of the people that did this are not from the government. Whether it is entrepreneurs like J.R.D. Tata and N.R. Narayana Murthy, sportspersons like Sachin Tendulkar or musicians like A.R. Rahman, people from all walks of life have helped improve our nation. Not just celebrities, but E. Sreedharan, responsible for the Delhi Metro, and Dr Verghese Kurien, who created the Amul revolution, were all ordinary people doing their work extraordinarily well. Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda, two of the most influential figures in India's history, never held political office. Aim to be one of those people who made India awesome. — Chetan Bhagat

For a bowl of water give a goodly meal; For a kindly greeting bow thou down with zeal; For a simple penny pay thou back with gold; If thy life be rescued, life do not withhold. Thus the words and actions of the wise regard; Every little service tenfold they reward. But the truly noble know all men as one, And return with gladness good for evil done. — Mahatma Gandhi

Golden fetters are no less galling to a self-respecting man that iron ones; the sting lies in the fetters, not in the metal. — Mahatma Gandhi

Detachment is not indifference. it is the prerequisite for effective involvement. Often what we think is best for others is distorted by our attachments to our opinions. We want others to be happy in the way we think they should be happy. It is only when we want nothing for ourselves that we are able to see clearly into others needs and understand how to serve them. — Mahatma Gandhi

In matters concerning religion, I consider myself not a child but an adult with 35 years of experience. — Mahatma Gandhi

I should love to satisfy all, if I possibly can; but in trying to satisfy all, I may be able to satisfy none. I have, therefore, arrived at the conclusion that the best course is to satisfy one's own conscience and leave the world to form its own judgment, favorable or otherwise. — Mahatma Gandhi

If a single man achieves the highest kind of love, it will be sufficient to neutralize the hate of millions. — Mahatma Gandhi

All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family. I cannot detach myself from the wickedest soul. — Mahatma Gandhi

We labor under the fatal delusion that no disease can be cured without medicine. This has been responsible for more mischief to mankind than any other evil ... Disease increases in proportion to the increase to the number of doctors in a place. — Mahatma Gandhi

If we want to impart education best suited to the needs of the villagers, we should take the vidyapith to the villages. — Mahatma Gandhi

But I could not for the life of me find out a new name, and therefore offered a nominal prize through Indian Opinion to the reader who made the best suggestion on the subject. As a result Maganlal Gandhi coined the word Sadagraha (Sat: truth, Agraha: firmness) and won the prize. But in order to make it clearer I changed the word to Satyagraha which has since become current in Gujarati as a designation for the struggle. — Mahatma Gandhi

The still small voice within you must always be the final arbiter when there is a conflict of duty. — Mahatma Gandhi

As the elephant is powerless to think in the terms of the ant, in spite of the best intentions in the world, even so is the Englishman powerless to think in the terms of, or legislate for, the Indian. — Mahatma Gandhi

Real education has to draw out the best from the boys and girls to be educated. — Mahatma Gandhi

To benefit by others' killing and to delude oneself into the belief that one is being very religions and nonviolent is sheer self-deception. — Mahatma Gandhi

A fearless woman who knows that her purity is her best shield can never be dishonoured. — Mahatma Gandhi

It is the best thing to blame ourselves when people cannot get on well with us. Boundless charity necessarily includes all or it ceases to be boundless. We must be strict with ourselves and lenient with our neighbors. For we know not their difficulties and what they overcome. — Mahatma Gandhi

Love requires that true education should be easily accessible to all and should be of use to every villager in this daily life. The emphasis laid on the principle of spending every minute of one's life usefully is the best education for citizenship. — Mahatma Gandhi

Hinduism has absorbed the best of all the faiths of the world and in that sense Hinduism is not an exclusive religion. — Mahatma Gandhi

Basic education links the children, whether of the cities or the villages, to all that is best and lasting in India. — Mahatma Gandhi

One may detest the wickedness of a brother without hating him. — Mahatma Gandhi

Love based upon indulgence of animal passion, is at best a selfish affair, and likely to snap under the slightest strain. — Mahatma Gandhi

The removal of untouchability is one of the highest expressions of ahimsa. — Mahatma Gandhi

The man has not the power to create life. Therefore, he has not either, the right to destroy it. — Mahatma Gandhi

No effort is complete without prayer - without definite recognition that the best human endeavor is of no effect if it has not God's blessing behind it. — Mahatma Gandhi

The best politics is right action. — Mahatma Gandhi

Swaraj, without any qualifying clause, includes that which is better than the best one can conceive or have today. — Mahatma Gandhi

By education, I mean an all-round drawing of the best in child and man in body, mind and spirit. — Mahatma Gandhi

Infinite striving to be the best is man's duty; it is its own reward. Everything else is in God's hands. — Mahatma Gandhi

Robust faith in oneself and brave trust of the opponent, so called or real, is the best safeguard. — Mahatma Gandhi

The alphabet of ahimsa is best learnt in domestic school and I can say from experience that if we secure success there, we are sure to do so everywhere else. — Mahatma Gandhi

As long as you are trying your very best, there can be no question of failure. — Mahatma Gandhi

All the religions of the world describe God pre-eminently as the Friend of the friendless, Help of the helpless, and Protector of the weak. — Mahatma Gandhi

Real education consists in drawing the best out of yourself. — Mahatma Gandhi

Finding your calling doesn't mean you must leave the job you now have. It simply means you need to bring more of yourself into your work and focus on the things you do best. It means you have to stop waiting for other people to make the changes you desire and, as Mahatma Gandhi noted: "Be the change that you wish to see most in your world." And once you do, your life will change. — Robin S. Sharma

The law of love could be best understood and learned through little children. — Mahatma Gandhi

It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good heart whatever they might have to say. — Mahatma Gandhi

The woman has circumvented man in a variety of ways in her unconsciously subtle ways, as the man has vainly and equally consciously struggled to thwart the woman in gaining ascendancy over him. — Mahatma Gandhi

Just as there are signs by which you can recognize violence with the naked eye, so is the spinning wheel to me a decisive sign of nonviolence. — Mahatma Gandhi

About the same time I came in contact with another Christian family. At their suggestion I attended the Wesleyan church every Sunday. For these days I also had their standing invitation to dinner. The church did not make a favourable impression on me. The sermons seemed to be uninspiring. The congregation did not strike me as being particularly religious. They were not an assembly of devout souls; they appeared rather to be wordly-minded people, going to church for recreation and in conformity to custom. Here, at times, I would involuntarily doze. I was ashamed, but some of my neighbours, who were in no better case, lightened the shame. I could not go on long like this, and soon gave up attending the service. — Mahatma Gandhi

Bravery on the battlefield is impossible for us. Bravery of the soul still remains open to us. — Mahatma Gandhi

If you are left with only one piece of homespun,wear it with dignity — Mahatma Gandhi

We keep waiting for another Mahatma to make a difference in our society and nation. Well it is time to stop waiting. The mantra is "I change to change India". Which means each of us is the Mahatma and has the power to change this nation. Failing which we shall never change for the better. — Jeroninio Almeida

Women are special custodians of all that is pure and religious in life. — Mahatma Gandhi

God in his wisdom circumscribed man's vision, and rightly too, for otherwise man's conceit would know no bounds. — Mahatma Gandhi

No human being is so bad as to be beyond redemption. — Mahatma Gandhi

I am a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. — Abdurrahman Wahid

Commonsense is the realised sense of proportion. — Mahatma Gandhi

A person who believes in nonviolence believes in a living God. He cannot accept defeat. — Mahatma Gandhi

Nonviolence is not a cloistered virtue, confined only to the rishi and the cave-dweller. — Mahatma Gandhi

To a people famishing and idle, the only acceptable form in which God can dare appear is work and promise of food as wages. — Mahatma Gandhi

Yajna is duty to be performed, or service to be rendered, all twenty-four hours of the day. — Mahatma Gandhi

An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind. — Mahatma Gandhi

It is my conviction that the root of evil is the want of a living God. — Mahatma Gandhi

Your right is to work, and not to expect the fruit. The slave-owner tells the slave: 'Mind your work, but beware lest you pluck a fruit from the garden. Yours is to take what I give.' God has put us under restriction in the same manner. He tells us that we may work if we wish, but that the reward of work is entirely for Him to give. Our duty is to pray to Him, and the best way in which we can do this is to work with the pick-axe, to remove scum from the river and to sweep and clean our yards. This, certainly, is a difficult lesson to learn. — Mahatma Gandhi

Punishment is God's. He alone is the infallible Judge. — Mahatma Gandhi

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

I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following. — Mahatma Gandhi

God alone is the judge of true greatness because He knows men's hearts. — Mahatma Gandhi

The only real and reliable guarantee for khadi would be honesty, truthfulness and sincerity of khadi workers. — Mahatma Gandhi

Indeed the very word, nonviolence, a negative word, means that it is an effort to abandon the violence that is inevitable in life. — Mahatma Gandhi

A devotee of Truth may not do anything in deference to convention. He must always hold himself open to correction, and whenever he discovers himself to be wrong he must confess it at all costs and atone for it. — Mahatma Gandhi

We find the general work of mankind is being carried on from day to day by the mass of people acting in harmony as if by instinct. If they were instinctively violent, the world would end in no time. — Mahatma Gandhi

An ideal sanctified by the sacrifices of such master spirits as Lenin cannot go in vain, the noble example of their renunciation will be emblazoned for ever and quicken and purify the ideal as time passes. — Mahatma Gandhi

Nationalism, like virtue, has its own reward. — Mahatma Gandhi

Sympathy is what you have for someone after they die, pity you have for someone when they don't have a date to the biggest dance of the year. Empathy is what I do to you when you judge me. Envy is having pity on yourself. Can you discern the rest for yourself? — Mahatma Gandhi

We labour under a sort of superstition that the child has nothing to learn during the first five years of its life. On the contrary the fact is that the child never learns in after-life what it does in its first five years. — Mahatma Gandhi

A government builds its prestige upon the apparently voluntary association of the governed. — Mahatma Gandhi

Rama was not only on the lips of Hanuman. He was enthroned in his heart. He gave Hanuman exhaustless strength. — Mahatma Gandhi