Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
EnglishItalianoPolskiעבריתFrançaisPortuguêsفارسیEspañol中文РусскийDeutschالعربيةहिन्दी日本語ΕλληνικάLatina
Mahatma Gandhi
276 quotes
“Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after truth and if today it has become moribund, inactive, irresponsive to growth, it is because we are fatigued. As soon as the fatigue is over, Hinduism will burst forth upon the world with a brilliance perhaps never known before.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1924 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (24 April 1924)
“I wanted to know the best of the life of one (Muhammad) who holds today an undisputed sway over the hearts of millions of mankind. I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam in those days in the scheme of life. It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement of the Prophet the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in his own mission. These and not the sword carried everything before them and surmounted every obstacle.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1924 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (23 September 1924) Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol.29, "My Jail experiences", p. 133
“I believe in absolute oneness of God and therefore also of humanity. What though we have many bodies? We have but one soul. The rays of the sun are many through refraction. But they have the same source. I cannot therefore detach myself from the wickedest soul (nor may I be denied identity with the most virtuous).”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1924 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (25 September 1924)
“Some of my corresponents seem to think that I can work wonders. Let me say as a devotee of truth that I have no such gift. All the power I may have comes from God. But He does not work directly. He works through His numberless agencies. In this case it is the Congress.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1924 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (8 October 1924). Quoted in Teachings of Mahatma Gandhi (1945), edited by Jag Parvesh Chander, Indian Printing Works, page 242.
“I do not believe as the friend seems to do that an individual may gain spiritually and those who surround him suffer. I believe in advaita [nonduality], I believe in the essential unity of man and for that matter of all that lives. Therefore I believe that if one man gains spiritually, the whole world gains with him and if one man falls, the whole world falls to that extent.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1924 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (4 December 1924)
“[R]eal Swaraj will come, not by the acquisition of authority by a few, but by the acquisition of the capacity by all to resist authority when it is abused. In other words, Swaraj is to be attained by educating the masses to a sense of their capacity to regulate and control authority.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (29 January 1925) p. 41
“Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men. The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India, 5 March 1925, in The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 31, p. 105.
“There is no principle worth the name if it is not wholly good. I swear by non-violence because I know that it alone conduces to the highest good of mankind, not merely in the next world, but in this also. I object to violence because, when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary, the evil it does is permanent.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (21 May 1925)
“Today my position is that though I admire much in Christianity, I am unable to identify myself with orthodox Christianity. I must tell you in all humility that Hinduism as I know it, entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being and I find a solace in the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Vol.27 p.2 04-06.28 July, 1925 Speech at a Meeting of missionaries (Y.M C.A. Calcutta) Mahatma Gandhi, The Collected Works, Volume 27, New Delhi, 1968, p. 435, (also quoted in Goel, S.R. History of Hindu-Christian Encou…
“Self-government means continuous effort to be independent of government control, whether it is foreign government or whether it is national. Swaraj government will be a sorry affair if people look up for the regulation of every detail of life.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (6 August 1925) p. 276
“What the divine author of the Mahabharata said of his great creation is equally true of Hinduism. Whatever of substance is contained in any other religion is always to be found in Hinduism, and what is not contained in it is insubstantial or unnecessary.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (27 September 1925)
“Seven social sins: politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A list closing an article in Young India (22 October 1925); Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi Vol. 33 (PDF) p. 135
“Politics without principle, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice — are the seven social sins.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1925 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Originally published in Young India, 22 October 1925, in The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 33, p. 135.
“Disobedience is a right that belongs to every human being, and it becomes a sacred duty when it springs from civility.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1926 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (4 January 1926)
“Hinduism is like the Ganga,, pure and unsullied at its source but taking in its course the impurities in the way. Even like the Ganga it is beneficent in its total effect. It takes a provincial form in every provinvce, but the inner substance is retained everywhere.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1926 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (8 April 1926)
“Our sages have taught us to learn one thing; `As in the Self, so in the Universe.' It is not possible to scan the universe as it is to scan the self. Know the self and you know the universe.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1926 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (8 April 1926)
“Now when we talk of brotherhood of men, we stop there and feel that all other life is there for man to exploit for his own purposes. But Hinduism excludes all exploitation.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1926 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (26 December 1926)
“I do regard Islam to be a religion of peace in the same sense as Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism are.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India, January 20, 1927, in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 32, p. 588.
“An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self sustained.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1285 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India 1924-1926 (1927), p. 1285
“I'm a lover of my own liberty, and so I would do nothing to restrict yours. I simply want to please my own conscience, which is God.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (21 January 1927)
“For one man cannot do right in one department of life whilst he is occupied in doing wrong in any other department. Life is one indivisible whole.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1927 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (27 January 1927)
“God forbid that India should ever take to industrialism after the manner of the West. The economic imperialism of a single tiny island kingdom is today keeping the world in chains. If an entire nation of 300 million took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1928, as reported in Development Without Destruction: Economics of the Spinning Wheel, p. 97
“My ambition is much higher than independence. Through the deliverance of India, I seek to deliver the so-called weaker races of the Earth from the crushing heels of Western exploitation in which England is the greatest partner.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (12 January 1928). Quoted in The Essential Writings of Gandhi, edited by Judith Brown. Oxford University Press, 2008, (p. 153).
“I came to the conclusion long ago ... that all religions were true and also that all had some error in them, and whilst I hold by my own, I should hold others as dear as Hinduism. So we can only pray, if we are Hindus, not that a Christian should become a Hindu ... But our innermost prayer should be a Hindu should be a better Hindu, a Muslim a better Muslim, a Christian a better Christian.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (19 January 1928)
“Remember that there is always a limit to self-indulgence but none to self-restraint, and let us daily progress in that direction.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Article in Young India (2 February 1928, Volume 10, Page 35)
“It is not possible to make a person or society non-violent by compulsion.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (13 September 1928). All Men Are Brothers: Autobiographical Reflections, compiled and edited by Krishna Kripalani, The Continuum, (2011) p. 34
“If an entire nation of 300 millions took to similar economic exploitation, it would strip the world bare like locusts.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1928 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India, 29 November 1928, Also found in The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 38, p. 243.
“Islam’s distinctive contribution to India’s national culture is its unadulterated belief in the oneness of God and a practical application of the truth of the brotherhood of man for those who are nominally within its fold. I call these two distinctive contributions. For in Hinduism the spirit of brotherhood has become too much philosophized. Similarly though philosophical Hinduism has no other god but God, it cannot be denied that practical Hinduism is not so emphatically uncompromising as Islam.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India, 21-3-1929, in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 40, p. 58.
“I have been known as a crank, faddist, madman. Evidently the reputation is well deserved. For wherever I go, I draw to myself cranks, faddists, and madmen.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (13 June 1929); also in All Men Are Brothers: Autobiographical Reflections (2005) edited by Krishna Kripalani, p. 163
Also quoted by: マハトマ・ガンジー (ja)
“I am uncompromising in the matter of woman's rights. In my opinion she should labour under no legal disability not suffered by man, I should treat the daughters and sons on a footing of perfect equality.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1929 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mohandas Gandhi, 17th October 1929. Quoted in Gandhi: The Essential Writings. Judith M. Brown, Oxford University Press, 1998 (pp. 228-9). Also quoted in Kumari Jayawardena, Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World in…
“I invite even the school of violence to give this peaceful non-co-operation a trial. It will not fail through its inherent weakness. It may fail because of poverty of response. Then will be one time for real danger. The high-souled men, who are unable to suffer national humiliation any longer, will want to vent their wrath. They will take to violence.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is far easier and safer to prevent illness by the observance of the laws of health than to set about curing the illness which has been brought on by our own ignorance and carelessness. Hence it is the duty of all thoughtful men to understand aright the laws of health (Introduction)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As Milton says, the mind can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell. So heaven is not somewhere above the clouds, and hell somewhere underneath the earth!... Whether a man is healthy or unhealthy depends on himself. Illness is the result not only of our actions but also of our thoughts. ... Ignorance is one of the root-causes of disease. (Introduction)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As far as possible, possess your souls in patience, and do not trouble the doctors. In case you are forced at length to call in the aid of a doctor, be sure to get a good man; then, follow his directions strictly, and do not call in another doctor, unless by his own advice. But remember, above all, that the curing of your disease does not rest ultimately in the hands of any doctor. (Introduction)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Man alone is perfectly healthy whose body is well formed, whose teeth as well as eyes and ears are in good condition, whose nose is free from dirty matter, whose skin exudes perspiration freely and without any bad smell, whose mouth is also free from bad smells, whose hands and legs perform their duty properly, who is neither too fat nor too thin, and whose mind and senses are constantly under his control. (Chapter I, The Meaning of Health)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The chief agency for keeping the blood pure is the air. When the blood returns to the lungs after one complete round over the body, it is impure and contains poisonous elements. The oxygen of the air which we inhale purifies this blood and is assimilated into it, while the nitrogen absorbs the poisonous matter and is breathed out. ... The air which we inhale is taken into the lungs through the windpipe, and the blood is purified by it. It is of the utmost importance to breathe through the nose, instead of through the mouth. (Chapter II, The Human Body)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If we cultivate the habit of keeping the air pure and of breathing only fresh air, we can save ourselves from many a terrible disease. ... Sleeping with the face uncovered is as essential as sleeping in fresh air. Many of our people are in the habit of sleeping with the face covered, which means that they have to inhale the poisonous air which has been exhaled by themselves.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The ways of men are so diverse, that the very same food shows different effects on different individuals. ... Man is not born to eat, nor should he live to eat. His true function is to know and serve his Maker; but, since the body is essential to this service, we have perforce to eat. Even atheists will admit that we should eat merely to preserve our health, and not more than is needed for this purpose. ... We have sedulously cultivated such false notions in the matter of eating that we never realise our slavishness and our beastliness. (Chapter V, Food)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An examination of the structure of the human body leads to the conclusion that man is intended by Nature to live on a vegetable diet. There is the closest affinity between the organs of the human body and those of the fruit-eating animals. The monkey, for instance, is so similar to man in shape and structure, and it is a fruit-eating animal. Its teeth and stomach are just like the teeth and stomach of man. From this we may infer that man is intended to live on roots and fruits, and not on meat. (Chapter V, Food)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An experienced doctor by name Deway has written an excellent book on Fasting, in which he has shown the benefits of dispensing with the breakfast. I can also say from my experience that there is absolutely no need to eat more than twice, for a man who has passed the period of youth, and whose body has attained its fullest growth. (Chapter V, Food)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Walking gives movement to every portion of the body, and ensures vigorous circulation of the blood; for, when we walk fast, fresh air is inhaled into the lungs. Then there is the inestimable joy that natural objects give us, the joy that comes from a contemplation of the beauties of nature. ... Let those who are suffering from indigestion and kindred diseases try for themselves, and they will at once realise the value of walking as an exercise. (Chapter VII, Exercise)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The process of vaccination consists in injecting into the skin the liquid that is obtained by applying the discharge from the body of a small-pox patient to the udder of a cow… Vaccination is a barbarous practice, and it is one of the most fatal of all the delusions current in our time, not to be found even among the so-called savage races of the world. Its supporters are not content with its adoption by those who have no objection to it, but seek to impose it with the aid of penal laws and rigorous punishments on all people alike. ... (Part II, Chapter VI Contageous Diseases: Small-Pox)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I cannot also help feeling that vaccination is a violation of the dictates of religion and morality. [Pg 108]The drinking of the blood of even dead animals is looked upon with horror even by habitual meat-eaters. Yet, what is vaccination but the taking in of the poisoned blood of an innocent living animal? Better far were it for God-fearing men that they should a thousand times become the victims of small-pox and even die a terrible death than that they should be guilty of such an act of sacrilege. (Part II, Chapter VI Contageous Diseases: Small-Pox)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not my purpose to attempt a real autobiography. I simply want to tell the story of my experiments with truth...as my life consists of nothing but those experiments.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have no doubt in my mind that vaccination is a filthy process, that it is harmful in the end and that it is little short of taking beef.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1930 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: chapter 01. Independence Pledge ( 1930 ),
“To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed, is woman less brute than man. If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, has she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? Without her, man could not be. If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman. Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1930 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (10 April 1930)
“An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1930 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From a letter to the Viceroy, 1930, published in The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 49, p. 180.
“By its very nature, non-violence cannot ‘seize’ power, nor can that be its goal. But non-violence can do more; it can effectively control and guide power without capturing the machinery of government. That is its beauty.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1931 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (Feb. 7, 1931) p. 162
“Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the State becomes lawless or corrupt.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1931 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India, 5 March 1931, in The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 45, p. 343.
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) first seen 1931 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Young India (12 March 1931), p. 31