Mohandas Gandhi Quotes (262 Quotes)

Far more indispensable then food for the physical body is spiritual nourishment for the soul. One can do without food for a considerable time, but a man of the spirit cannot exist for a single second without spiritual nourishment.

Prayer is a confession of one's own unworthiness and weakness.

An opponent is entitled to the same regard for his principles as we would expect others to have for ours. Non-violence demands that we should seek every opportunity to win over opponents.

There is more to life than increasing its speed.

Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.

Everyone who wills can hear the inner voice. It is within everyone.

Perfection is the exclusive attribute of God, and it is indescribable, untranslatable. I do believe that it is possible for human beings to become perfect. It is necessary for all of us to aspire after that perfection but when that blessed state is attained, it becomes indescribable, indefinable.

I need no inspiration other then Nature's. She has never failed me yet. She mystifies me, bewilders me, sends me into ecstasies. Besides God's handiwork, does not man's fade into insignificance

As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves.

The good man is the friend of all living things.

Suffering has its well-defined limits. Suffering can be both wise and unwise, and when the limit is reached, to prolong it would be not unwise but the height of folly.

Ahimsa infinite love is a weapon of matchless potency. It is the summum bonum of life. It is an attitude of the brave, in fact it is their all. It does not come within the reach of a coward. It is no wooden or lifeless dogma but a living and lifegiving force. It is the special attribute of the soul.

Where love is, there God is also.

Rights that do not flow from duty well performed are not worth having.

For me every ruler is alien that defies public opinion.

Justice that love gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment.

Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.

Are creeds such simple things like the clothes which a man can change at will and put on at will? Creeds are such for which people live for ages and ages.

Destruction is not the law of humans. Man lives freely only by his readiness to die, if need be, at the hands of his brother, never by killing him. Every murder or other injury, no matter for what cause, committed or inflicted on another is a crime against humanity.

Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress.

Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it.

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

Violent means will give violent freedom. That would be a menace to the world and to India herself.

Action expresses priorities.

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problem.

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

In the application of Satyagraha, I discovered, in the earliest stages, that pursuit of Truth did not admit of violence being inflicted on one's opponent, but that he must be weaned from error by patience and sympathy. For, what appears to be truth to the one may appear to be error to the other. And patience means self-suffering. So the doctrine came to mean vindication of Truth, not by infliction of suffering on the opponent but one's own self.

A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does not help to solve them is no religion.

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?

Non-violence is not a quality to be evolved or expressed to order. It is an inward growth depending for sustenance upon intense individual effort.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.

It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.

Moral authority is never retained by any attempt to hold on to it. It comes without seeking and is retained without effort.

Commonsense is the realised sense of proportion.

The moment there is suspicion about a person's motives, everything he does becomes tainted.

I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest. Even if the sacrifice demanded my very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it.

Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.

Proved right should be capable of being vindicated by right means as against the rude i.e. sanguinary means. Man may and should shed his own blood for establishing what he considers to be his right. He may not shed the blood of his opponent who disputes his 'right'.

Unwearied ceaseless effort is the price that must be paid for turning faith into a rich infallible experience.

A dissolute character is more dissolute in thought than in deed. And the same is true of violence. Our violence in word and deed is but a feeble echo of the surging violence of thought in us.

Imitation is the sincerest flattery.

Restraint never ruins one's health. What ruins it,is not restraint but outward suppression. A really self-restrained person grows every day from strength to strength and from peace to more peace. The very first step in self-restraint is the restraint of thoughts.

To forgive is not to forget. The merit lies in loving in spite of the vivid knowledge that the one that must be loved is not a friend. There is no merit in loving an enemy when you forget him for a friend.

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.

When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible.

In a gentle way, you can shake the world.

To safeguard democracy the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect, and their oneness.

That service is the noblest which is rendered for its own sake.

A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal.

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.