Mohandas Gandhi Quotes (262 Quotes)

Experience convinces me that permanent good can never be the outcome of untruth and violence. Even if my belief is a fond delusion, it will be admitted that it is a fascinating delusion.

An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.

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.

There is no principle worth the name if it is not wholly good.

Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.

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.

The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.

A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.

God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless.

It is foolish to think that by fleeing one can trick the dread god of death. Let us treat him as a beneficent angel rather than a dread god. We must face and welcome him whenever he comes.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed.

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.

Let no one say that he is a follower of Gandhi. It is enough that I should be my own follower. I know what an inadequate follower I am of myself, for I cannot live up to the convictions I stand for. You are no followers but fellow students, fellow pilgrims, fellow seekers, fellow workers.

Man lives freely only by his readiness to die, if need be, at the hands of his brother, never by killing him.

Action is no less necessary than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human frame.

An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.

A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.

Fear of death makes us devoid both of valour and religion. For want of valour is want of religious faith.

Let us all be brave enough to die the death of a martyr, but let no one lust for martyrdom.

To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.

Before the throne of the Almighty, man will be judged not by his acts but by his intentions. For God alone reads our hearts.

One's own religion is after all a matter between oneself and one's Maker and no one else's.

What is true of the individual will be tomorrow true of the whole nation if individuals will but refuse to lose heart and hope.

Where there is love there is life.

Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.

Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer. I feel stronger for confession.

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.

Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man.

Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.

No sacrifice is worth the name unless it is a joy. Sacrifice and a long face go ill together. Sacrifice is 'making sacred'. He must be a poor specimen of humanity who is in need of sympathy for his sacrifice.

Morality is contraband in war.

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.

Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.

I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal to reason and is in conflict with morality.

The spirit of non-violence necessarily leads to humility. Non-violence means reliance on God, the rock of ages. If we would seek his aid, we must approach Him with a humble and contrite heart.

I do not want any patronage, as I do not give any. I am a lover of my own liberty, and so I would do nothing to restrict yours. I simply want to please my own conscience, which is God.

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

When anything assumes the strength of a creed, it becomes self-sustained and derives the needed support from within.

The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one's opponent.

Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do it.

Purity of personal life is the one indispensable condition for building up a sound education.

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.

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.

I cannot account for the existence of evil by any rational method. To want to do so is to be co-equal with God. I know that He has no evil in Him, and yet if there is evil, He is the author of it and yet untouched by it.

Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.

There is no occasion for women to consider themselves subordinate or inferior to men.

Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.

I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.

Fear has its use but cowardice has none.