Mahatma Gandhi Quotes: nspiring quotes from Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was an non-violent, anti-colonial nationalist and is considered to be the Father of India’s independence.
Mahatma Gandhi became famous for his nonviolent rallies against British colonial rule in India. Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence led to the start of many peaceful actions that civil rights activists still use today, like marches and even more controversial ones like hunger strikes. In times of difficulty, you may need a few encouraging words or just some sound advice. These Gandhi quotes will do exactly that.
For most of Gandhi’s life, he advocated nonviolence and equality for all people, first in his native South Africa and then in India. As a result, his legacy can be found all over the world. He was well-known for his fearlessness and serenity, as well as his deep concern for the plight of the poor.
Mahatma Gandhi Quote
1. “Man is oftentimes weak-minded enough to be caught in the snare of greed and honeyed words.”
2. “The human body is meant solely for service, never for indulgence. The secret of a happy life lies in renunciation. Renunciation is life. Indulgence spells death.”
3. “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.”
4. “He who would sacrifice his life for others has hardly time to reserve for himself a place in the sun.”
5. “You don’t know who is important to you until you actually lose them.”
6. “Confession of errors is like a broom that sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer. I feel stronger for confession.”
Inspirational Mahatma Gandhi Quotes
7. “The unwearied ceaseless effort is the price that must be paid for turning faith into a rich infallible experience.”
8. “Unity to be real must stand the severest strain without breaking.”
9. “It’s easy to stand in the crowd but it takes courage to stand alone.”
10. “My life is dedicated to the service of India through the religion of nonviolence which I believed to be the root of Hinduism.”
11. “I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.”
12. “Hate the sin, love the sinner.”
13. “Not to have control over the senses is like sailing in a rudderless ship, bound to break to pieces on coming in contact with the very first rock.”
14. “A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.”
15. “Unless discipline is rooted in nonviolence, it might prove to be a source of infinite mischief.”
16. “Action expresses priorities.”
17. “Some form of common worship and a commonplace of worship appear to be a human necessity.”
18. “A man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.”
19. “No man loses his freedom except through his own weakness.”
20. “Everyone who wills can hear the inner voice. It is within everyone.”
21. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
22. “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.”
23. “Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served.”
24. “One, who abandons all desires, is free from pride and selfishness and behaves as one apart, finds peace.”
25. “There is no principle worth the name if it is not wholly good.”
26. “Common sense is the realized sense of proportion.”
27. “Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed.”
28. “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”
29. “An ounce of practice is worth a thousand words.”
30. “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”
31. ‘If we were strong, self-respecting and not susceptible to frightfulness, the foreign rulers would have been powerless for mischief.”
32. “For me, every ruler is an alien that defies public opinion.”
33. “In doing something, do it with love or never do it at all.”
34. “There are two days in the year that we can not do anything – yesterday and tomorrow.”
35. “Speak only if it improves upon the silence.”
36. “Glory lies in the attempt to reach one’s goal and not in reaching it.”
37. “Definite forgiveness would mean a definite recognition of our strength.”
38. “It is a weakness that breeds fear, and fear breeds distrust.”
39. “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”
40. “Truth without humility would be an arrogant caricature.”
41. “The best way of losing a cause is to abuse your opponent and to trade upon his weakness.”
42. “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary, the evil it does is permanent.”
43. “My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents and I lay them both at his feet.”
44. “A leader is useless when he acts against the promptings of his own conscience.”
45. “Be congruent, be authentic, be your true self.”
46. “The culture of the mind must be subservient to the heart.”
47. “To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”
48. “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”
49. “Nonviolence, which is the quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the brain.”
50. “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
51. “Before the throne of the Almighty, man will be judged not by his acts but by his intentions. For God alone reads our hearts.”
52. “It is my own firm belief that the strength of the soul grows in proportion as you subdue the flesh.”
53. “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.”
54. “Providence has its appointed hour for everything. We cannot command results, we can only strive.”
55. “Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err.”
56. “Violent men have not been known in history to die to a man. They die up to a point.”
57. “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
58. “Nonviolence is not to be used ever as the shield of the coward. It is the weapon of the brave.”
59. ‘Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.”
60. “Our greatest ability as humans is not to change the world, but to change ourselves.”
61. “To lose patience is to lose the battle.”
62. “Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.”
63. “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.”
64. “A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”
65. “Every person in a well-ordered state is fully conscious of both his responsibilities and his rights.”
66. “Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you do it.”
67. “I cannot conceive of a greater loss than the loss of one’s self-respect.”
68. “It is better to be violent if there is violence in our hearts than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.”
69. “The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear.”
70. “Every home is a university and the parents are the teachers.”
71. “Literary training by itself adds not an inch to one’s moral height and that character-building is independent of literary training.”
72. “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.”
73. “There is no need for a teacher for those who know how to think.”
74. “I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.”
75. “All compromise is based on giving and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals, Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all given and no take.”
76. “There is more to life than increasing its speed.”
77. “Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.”
78. “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.”
79. “For winning Swaraj one requires iron discipline.” (Swaraj can mean self-governance or “self-rule” but the word usually refers to Gandhi’s concept for Indian independence from foreign domination)
80. “Nonviolence and truth are inseparable and presuppose one another.”
81. “Let us all be brave enough to die the death of a martyr, but let no one lust for martyrdom.”
82. “It is difficult, but not impossible, to conduct strictly honest business.”
83. “Perfect nonviolence is difficult. It admits to no weakness.”
84. “A man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep.”
85. “Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.”
86. “Live simply so that others may simply live.”
87. “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.”
88. “It’s my conviction that nothing enduring can be built on violence.”
89. “Even if the paradise of material satisfaction, which they envisage as their final goal, realized on earth, it would not bring mankind either contentment or peace.”
90. “Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress.”
91. “A wise parent allows the children to make mistakes. It is good for them once in a while to burn their fingers.”
92. “True beauty consists of purity of heart.”
93. “What barrier is there that love cannot break?”
94. “Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.”
95. “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.”
96. “Moral authority is never retained by any attempt to hold on to it. It comes without seeking and is retained without effort.”
97. “God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless.”
98. “The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.”
99. “Those who cannot renounce attachment to the results of their work are far from the path.”
100. “Men aspiring to be free can hardly think of enslaving others.”
101. “Man will ever remain imperfect, and it will always be his part to try to be perfect.”
102. “Violent means will give violent freedom. That would be a menace to the world and to India herself.”
103. “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.”
104. “I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.”
105. ‘The very first step in nonviolence is that we cultivate in our daily life, as between ourselves, truthfulness, humility, tolerance, loving-kindness.”
106. “Imitation is the sincerest flattery.”
107. “Study not a man in his animal nature – man following the laws of the jungle – but study man in all his glory.”
108. “Fear has its use but cowardice has none.”
109. “Nonviolence is impossible without humility.”
110. “Service without humility is selfishness and egotism.”
111. “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
112. “That service is the noblest which is rendered for its own sake.”
113. “A man who would interpret the scriptures must have the spiritual discipline.”
114. “The rich cannot accumulate wealth without the co-operation of the poor in society.”
115. “Infinite striving to be the best is man’s duty; it is its own reward. Everything else is in God’s hands.”
116. “Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless or corrupt.”
117. “Knowledge without character is a power for evil only, as seen in the instances of so many talented thieves and ‘gentlemen rascals’ in the world.”
118. “What is true of the individual will be tomorrow true of the whole nation if individuals will but refuse to lose heart and hope.”
119. “Find purpose. The means will follow.”
120. “If you want real peace in the world, start with children.”
121. ‘Man has always desired power. Ownership of property gives this power. Man hankers also after posthumous fame based on power.”
122. “They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them.”
123. “Violence is a concession to human weakness, satyagraha is an obligation.”
124. “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.”
125. “In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.”
126. “Education must be of a new type for the sake of the creation of a new world.”
127. “Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.”
128. “Nonviolence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man.”
129. “The difficulty one experiences in meeting himsa arise from weakness of mind.”
130. “The cry for peace will be a cry in the wilderness, so long as the spirit of nonviolence does not dominate millions of men and women.”
131. “Responsibility will mellow and sober the youth and prepare them, for the burden they must discharge.”
132. “Do not judge others. Be your own judge and you will be truly happy. If you will try to judge others, you are likely to burn your fingers.”
133. “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”
134. “It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity.”
135. “Change yourself – you are in control.”
136. “Gentleness, self-sacrifice, and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.”
137. “I believe that a man is the strongest soldier for daring to die unarmed.”
138. “A weak man is just by accident. A strong but non-violent man is unjust by accident.”
139. “When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.”
140. “If your heart acquires strength, you will be able to remove blemishes from others without thinking evil of them.”
141. “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.”
142. “My faith is brightest in the midst of impenetrable darkness.”
143. “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles, but today it means getting along with people.”
144. “Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”
145. “Persistent questioning and healthy inquisitiveness are the first requisite for acquiring learning of any kind.”
146. “Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.”
147. “The future depends on what you do today.”
148. “Full effort is a full victory.”
149. “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”
150. “Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.”
151. “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises.”
152. “I regard myself as a soldier, though a soldier of peace.”
153. “Distinguish between real needs and artificial wants and control the latter.”
154. “Craft, art, health, and education should all be integrated into one scheme.”
155. “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.”
156. ‘Life is an aspiration. Its mission is to strive after perfection, which is self-realization. The ideal must not be lowered because of our weaknesses or imperfections.”
157. “First, they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
158. “Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”
159. “Doubt is invariably the result of want or weakness of faith.”
160. “Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.”
161. “The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within.”
162. ‘There is a force in the universe, which, if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results.”
163. “God has no religion.”
164. “A ‘No’ uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.”
165. “True humility means the most strenuous and constant endeavor entirely directed towards the service of humanity.”
166. “Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love.”
167. “Truth is one, paths are many.”
168. “Non-cooperation is a measure of discipline and sacrifice, and it demands respect for the opposite views.”
169. “Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong.”
170. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong.”
171. “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realizing Him.”
172. “Peace is its own reward.”
173. “The golden rule of conduct is mutual toleration, seeing that we will never all think alike and we shall always see Truth in fragment and from different points of vision.”
174. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
175. “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.”
176. “The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.”
177. “I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings.”
178. “As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.”
179. ‘The real ornament of woman is her character, her purity.”
180. “Independence means voluntary restraints and discipline, voluntary acceptance of the rule of law.”
181. “The richest grace of ahimsa will descend easily upon the owner of hard discipline.”
182. “If co-operation is a duty, I hold that non-co-operation also under certain conditions is equally a duty.”
183. “Nonviolence 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.”
184. “I am a humble but very earnest seeker after truth.”
185. “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.”
186. “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
187. “Nothing has saddened me so much in life as the hardness of the heart of educated people.”
188. “God’s word is: ‘He who strives never perishes’. I have implicit faith in that promise.”
189. “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment.”
190. “Where there is love there is life.”
191. “An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”
192. “You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results.”
193. “There is a sufficiency in the world for man’s need but not for man’s greed.”
194. “Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.”
195. “My life is my message.”
196. “Seek not greater wealth, but simpler pleasure; not higher fortune, but deeper felicity.”
197. “The greater our innocence, the greater our strength and the swifter our victory.”
198. “I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and nonviolence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could.”
199. “The purity of personal life is the one indispensable condition for building up a sound education.”
200. “Interviewer: “What do you think of Western Civilization?” Gandhi: “I think it would be a good idea”.”
201. “Justice that love gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment.”
202. “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.”
203. “There is no ‘way to peace’, there is only ‘peace’.”
204. “Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.”
205. “Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.”
206. “Self-respect knows no considerations.”
207. “The Swaraj of my dream recognizes no race or religious distinctions.”
208. “You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.”
209. “Be the change that you want to see in the world.”
210. “Living faith in God means acceptance of the brotherhood of mankind.”
211. “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.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohan Das Karamchand Gandhi (also known as Mahatma Gandhi) is regarded as one of history’s most inspiring figures. In 1947, he was instrumental in bringing about the largest revolution in India’s history. Quotes, proverbs, and sayings from him have been included in this collection (with images and pictures). More than 200 million people have been unified by Mahatma Gandhi’s peaceful words and forceful actions, which have made him a household name. Despite the fact that he was murdered in 1948, many people still regard him as a symbol of peace.
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