Mohandas Gandhi Quotes (262 Quotes)


    Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.

    Faith... must be enforced by reason... when faith becomes blind it dies.

    This campaign of non-cooperation has no reference to diplomacy, secret or open. The only diplomacy it admits of is the statement and pursuance of truth at any cost.

    Real suffering, bravely borne, melts even a heart of stone. Such is the potency of suffering. And there lies the key to Satyagraha.

    It would conduce to national progress and save a great deal of time and trouble if we cultivated the habit of never supporting the resolutions either by speaking or voting for them if we had not either the intention or the ability to carry them out.


    Man's nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been know to yield to the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature.

    Spiritual relationship is far more precious than physical. Physical relationship divorced from spiritual is body without soul.

    Hatred ever kills, love never dies such is the vast difference between the two. What is obtained by love is retained for all time. What is obtained by hatred proves a burden in reality for it increases hatred.

    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.

    Just as a man would not cherish living in a body other than his own, so do nations not like to live under other nations, however noble and great the latter may be.


    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.

    I believe in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the world.

    Non-cooperation is directed not against men but against measures. It is not directed against the Governors, but against the system they administer. The roots of non-cooperation lie not in hatred but in justice, if not in love.

    The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.

    To me art in order to be truly great must, like the beauty of Nature, be universal in its appeal. It must be simple in its presentation and direct in its expression, like the language of Nature.

    Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed.

    The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still small voice of conscience.

    We may have our private opinions but why should they be a bar to the meeting of hearts?

    Between husband and wife there should be no secrets from one another. I have a very high opinion of the marriage tie. I hold that husband and wife merge in each other. They are one in two or two in one.

    Non-cooperation is an attempt to awaken the masses, to a sense of their dignity and power. This can only be done by enabling them to realize that they need not fear brute force, if they would but know the soul within.

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

    Violent men have not been known in history to die to a man. They die up to a point.


    The law of sacrifice is uniform throughout the world. To be effective it demands the sacrifice of the bravest and the most spotless.

    God, as Truth, has been for me a treasure beyond price. May He be so to every one of us.

    Though we may know Him by a thousand names, He is one and the same to us all.

    Whenever I see an erring man, I say to myself I have also erred when I see a lustful man I say to myself, so was I once and in this way I feel kinship with everyone in the world and feel that I cannot be happy without the humblest of us being happy.

    Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.


    It is the law of love that rules mankind. Had violence, i.e. hate, ruled us we should have become extinct long ago. And yet, the tragedy of it is that the so-called civilized men and nations conduct themselves as if the basis of society was 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 from fear of punishment.


    The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

    The test of friendship is assistance in adversity, and that too, unconditional assistance. Co-operation which needs consideration is a commercial contract and not friendship. Conditional co-operation is like adulterated cement which does not bind.

    A principle is the expression of perfection, and as imperfect beings like us cannot practise perfection, we devise every moment limits of its compromise in practice.

    Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.

    Non-cooperation is a measure of discipline and sacrifice, and it demands respect for the opposite views.

    The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

    God is, even though the whole world deny him. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained.

    Providence has its appointed hour for everything. We cannot command results, we can only strive.

    It is man's social nature which distinguishes him from the brute creation. If it is his privilege to be independent, it is equally his duty to be inter-dependent. Only an arrogant man will claim to be independent of everybody else and be self-contained.

    But for my faith in God, I should have been a raving maniac.

    God never appears to you in person but always in action.

    It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.

    I want to see India free in my life-time. But God may not consider me fit enough to see the dream of my life fulfilled. Then I shall quarrel, not with Him but with myself.

    I may live without air and water, but not without Him. You may pluck out my eyes, but that cannot kill me. You may chop off my nose but that will not kill me. But blast my belief in God, and I am dead.

    I would heartily welcome the union of East and West provided it is not based on brute force.

    The hardest metal yields to sufficient heat. Even so must the hardest heart melt before sufficiency of the heat of non- violence. And there is no limit to the capacity of non-violence to generate heat.

    Human kind has to get out of violence only through nonviolence. Hatred can be overcome only by love. Counter-hatred only increases the surface as well as the depth of hatred.


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