The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.
Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
Be the change that you wish to see in the world.
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
My life is my message.
Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.
It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.
Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
Peace is its own reward.
I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.
Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
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.
You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.
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 in the holy name of liberty or democracy?
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.
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.
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 is also God.
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.
Non-violence is the article of faith.
Self-respect knows no considerations.
Poverty is the worst form of violence.
Nobody can hurt me without my permission.
In a gentle way, you can shake the world.
Those who know how to think need no teachers.
The good man is the friend of all living things.
There is more to life than increasing its speed.
Each one prays to God according to his own light.
No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive.
Culture of the mind must be subservient to the heart.
For me every ruler is alien that defies public opinion.
The real ornament of woman is her character, her purity.
An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.
To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.
Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.
Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.
Prayer is a confession of one’s own unworthiness and weakness.
Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.
The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one’s opponent.
Non-violence and truth are inseparable and presuppose one another.
If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.
I am in the world feeling my way to light ‘amid the encircling gloom.’
I believe in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the world.
A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.
I believe that a man is the strongest soldier for daring to die unarmed.
Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man.
The essence of all religions is one. Only their approaches are different.
It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity.
Morality is the basis of things and truth is the substance of all morality.
There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.
I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.
A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.
Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up.
What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea.
Justice that love gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment.
In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.
An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.
Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do it.
Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.
Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed.
Non-violence, which is the quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the brain.
Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it.
God, as Truth, has been for me a treasure beyond price. May He be so to every one of us.
Let us all be brave enough to die the death of a martyr, but let no one lust for martyrdom.
The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he does becomes tainted.
Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.
Providence has its appointed hour for everything. We cannot command results, we can only strive.
Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.
Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.
There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.
To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.
Man can never be a woman’s equal in the spirit of selfless service with which nature has endowed her.
We may stumble and fall but shall rise again; it should be enough if we did not run away from the battle.
Religion is a matter of the heart. No physical inconvenience can warrant abandonment of one’s own religion.
My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realizing Him.
Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.
Man lives freely only by his readiness to die, if need be, at the hands of his brother, never by killing him.
Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French.
It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honored by the humiliation of their fellow beings.
Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear.
I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.
There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts.
The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.
A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.
An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.
I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.
Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action.
Before the throne of the Almighty, man will be judged not by his acts but by his intentions. For God alone reads our hearts.
Spiritual relationship is far more precious than physical. Physical relationship divorced from spiritual is body without soul.
If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time. And a living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm.
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.
All the religions of the world, while they may differ in other respects, unitedly proclaim that nothing lives in this world but Truth.
It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.
There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever.
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.
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.
Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer. I feel stronger for confession.
We do not need to proselytise either by our speech or by our writing. We can only do so really with our lives. Let our lives be open books for all to study.
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.
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.
I will far rather see the race of man extinct than that we should become less than beasts by making the noblest of God’s creation, woman, the object of our lust.
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.
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.
Man falls from the pursuit of the ideal of plan living and high thinking the moment he wants to multiply his daily wants. Man’s happiness really lies in contentment.
God cannot be realized through the intellect. Intellect can lead one to a certain extent and no further. It is a matter of faith and experience derived from that faith.
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.
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.
All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take.
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.
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.
I do all the evil I can before I learn to shun it? Is it not enough to know the evil to shun it? If not, we should be sincere enough to admit that we love evil too well to give it up.
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.
There is an orderliness in the universe, there is an unalterable law governing everything and every being that exists or lives. It is no blind law; for no blind law can govern the conduct of living beings.
Ours is one continued struggle against degradation sought to be inflicted upon us by the European, who desire to degrade us to the level of the raw Kaffir, whose occupation is hunting and whose sole ambition is to collect a certain number of cattle to buy a wife with, and then pass his life in indolence and nakedness.
Morality is contraband in war.
Truth never damages a cause that is just.
Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress.
Intolerance betrays want of faith in one’s cause.
I am a humble but very earnest seeker after truth.
In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.
The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
Everyone who wills can hear the inner voice. It is within everyone.
God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless.
Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained.
I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.
Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.
Faith… must be enforced by reason… when faith becomes blind it dies.
Though we may know Him by a thousand names, He is one and the same to us all.
When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible.
Violent men have not been known in history to die to a man. They die up to a point.
Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.
Only he can take great resolves who has indomitable faith in God and has fear of God.
One’s own religion is after all a matter between oneself and one’s Maker and no one else’s.
Purity of personal life is the one indispensable condition for building up a sound education.
I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal to reason and is in conflict with morality.
Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living?
Violent means will give violent freedom. That would be a menace to the world and to India herself.
It is my own firm belief that the strength of the soul grows in proportion as you subdue the flesh.
A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does not help to solve them is no religion.
Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being.
Infinite striving to be the best is man’s duty; it is its own reward. Everything else is in God’s hands.
The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires change of heart.
Increase of material comforts, it may be generally laid down, does not in any way whatsoever conduce to moral growth.
God is, even though the whole world deny him. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained.
A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal.
Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.
What is true of the individual will be tomorrow true of the whole nation if individuals will but refuse to lose heart and hope.
The law of sacrifice is uniform throughout the world. To be effective it demands the sacrifice of the bravest and the most spotless.
Is it not enough to know the evil to shun it? If not, we should be sincere enough to admit that we love evil too well to give it up.
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.
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.
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.
Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared.
Morality which depends upon the helplessness of a man or woman has not much to recommend it. Morality is rooted in the purity of our hearts.
Man is supposed to be the maker of his destiny. It is only partly true. He can make his destiny, only in so far as he is allowed by the Great Power.
I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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