Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

 



1869-1948
 
Political and spiritual leader of India
 

 

 

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi quotes:

• 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.
• The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
• When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always.
• 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.
• Be the change you want to see in the world.
• There is more to life than increasing its speed.
• If you want something really important to be done you must not merely satisfy the reason, you must move the heart also.
  
• Not to have control over the senses is like sailing in a rudderless ship, bound to break into pieces on the first rock.
• 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.
• Satisfaction lies in the effort not the attainment. Full effort is full victory.
• Remember that there is always a limit to self-indulgence, but none to self-restraint.
• Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
• They cannot take away our self-respect if we did not give it to them.
• Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
  
• 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 of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.
• Poverty is the worst form of violence.
• To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.
• Morality is contraband in war.
• All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family, and each one of us is responsible for the misdeeds of all the others. I cannot detach myself from the wickedest soul.
  
• There are seven things that will destroy us: Wealth without work; Pleasure without conscience; Knowledge without character; Religion without sacrifice; Politics without principle; Science without humanity; Business without ethics.
• The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
• All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family, and each one of us is responsible for the misdeeds of all the others. I cannot detach myself from the wickedest soul.
  
• Whatever you do may seem insignificant, but it is most important that you do it.
• In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place.
  
• Be the change you want to see in the world.
• When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always.
• Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
• The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.
• Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation, and a wicked deed disapprobation, the doer of the deed, whether good or wicked always deserves respect or pity as the case may be.
• 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.
• Truth never damages a cause that is just. 
  
• A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the preogative of the brave. 
  
• Think of the poorest person you have ever seen and ask if your next act will be of any use to him.
• Non-cooperation is a measure of discipline and sacrifice, and it demands respect for the opposite views.
• Courtesy towards opponents and eagerness to understand their view-point is the ABC of non-violence.

Please feel free to add to the Gandhi quotes in a comment.
 

Image Source: THE COMPLETE SITE ON MOHATMA GANDHI 

Comments

[S K Das]

Nonviolence is a misnomer.Gandhi took inspiration from the Gita which exhorts cowards to prosecute the just war.Nonmalice would be a more accurate rendition of Ahimsa which he purported to propound.It is entirely plausible that Gandhi for reasons of political tactical expedience omitted to use the sterile word Nonmalice.

[Sam McFarland]

You quote Gandhi as saying, “All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family, and each one of us is responsible for the misdeeds of all the others. I cannot detach myself from the wickedest soul.”

That is a frequently cited quote, but try as I may, I cannot find a citation of the original source for that quote. I am offering a reward of $100 for the first person who can send me its verifiable source.

[TomATS]

Sam,

I cannot give you the citation, but I may be able to help.

I got the quote from a service A.Word.A.Day provided by wordsmith.org some time ago. The founder is Anu Garg. You can find out more about him, and his program, and a contact link at http://wordsmith.org/awad/about.html. They are real good about answering email.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,Tom Huchko
Avenues to Success