As leader of the Indian independence movement and pioneer of the philosophy and strategy of non-violence, Mahatma Gandhi´s influence on world peace is immeasurable. Below are 100 select quotes by this remarkable man. Also check out this video series on Gandhi and the International Day of Nonviolence.
“A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.”
“A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.”
“A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”
“A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does not help to solve them is no religion.”
“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
“An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.”
“Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up.”
“Before the throne of the Almighty, man will be judged not by his acts but by his intentions.”
“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.”
“Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.”
“Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.”
“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.”
“Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.”
“God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless.”
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
“Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress.”
“Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.”
“I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.”
“I believe that a man is the strongest soldier for daring to die unarmed.”
“I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life.”
“I claim that human mind or human society is not divided into watertight compartments called social, political and religious. All act and react upon one another.”
“I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and Non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could.”
“I know, to banish anger altogether from one’s breast is a difficult task. It cannot be achieved through pure personal effort. It can be done only by God’s grace.”
“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”
“I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings.”
“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”
“If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.”
“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.”
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
“In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
“Increase of material comforts, it may be generally laid down, does not in any way whatsoever conduce to moral growth.”
“Intolerance betrays want of faith in one’s cause.”
“Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.”
“- I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
– I shall fear only God.
– I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
– I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
– I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.”
“It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honored by the humiliation of their fellow beings.”
“It is any day better to stand erect with a broken and bandaged head then to crawl on one’s belly, in order to be able to save one’s head.”
“It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”
“Justice that love gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment.”
“Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:”
“Let us all be brave enough to die the death of a martyr, but let no one lust for martyrdom.”
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
“Love is the strongest force the world possesses and yet it is the humblest imaginable.”
“Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.”
“Man lives freely only by his readiness to die, if need be, at the hands of his brother, never by killing him.”
“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”
“Man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep.”
“Morality is contraband in war.”
“Morality is the basis of things and truth is the substance of all morality.”
“My life is my message.”
“My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realizing Him.”
“No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive.”
“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”
“Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.”
“Non-violence and truth are inseparable and presuppose one another.”
“Non-violence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being.”
“Non-violence is the article of faith.”
“Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed.”
“Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.”
“Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man.”
“Non-violence, which is the quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the brain.”
“Peace is its own reward.”
“Poverty is the worst form of violence.”
“Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived”
“Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.”
“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.”
“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.”
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
“The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.”
“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problem.”
“The good man is the friend of all living things.”
“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
“The law of sacrifice is uniform throughout the world. To be effective it demands the sacrifice of the bravest and the most spotless.”
“The main purpose of life is to live rightly, think rightly, act rightly. The soul must languish when we give all our thought to the body.”
“The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.”
“The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one’s opponent.”
“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.”
“There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.”
“There is more to life than increasing its speed.”
“Those who know how to think need no teachers.”
“Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.”
“To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”
“To deprive a man of his natural liberty and to deny to him the ordinary amenities of life is worse then starving the body; it is starvation of the soul, the dweller in the body.”
“Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear.”
“Truth never damages a cause that is just.”
“Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained.”
“Violent men have not been known in history to die to a man. They die up to a point.”
“We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.”
“We should meet abuse by forbearance. Human nature is so constituted that if we take absolutely no notice of anger or abuse, the person indulging in it will soon weary of it and stop.”
“What difference does it make 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?”
“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.”
“Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it.”
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.”
“Where love is, there God is also.”
“Where there is love there is life.”
“You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.”
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
“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.”
“Your beliefs become your thoughts,
Your thoughts become your words,
Your words become your actions,
Your actions become your habits,
Your habits become your values,
Your values become your destiny.
The future depends on what you do today.”
Read other Peace Quotes and learn more about Nonviolence and other Notable Peacemakers.
Want to expand your knowledge of Gandhi? Be amazed at www.gandhiserve.com.
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