Quotes from Gandhi

Peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived
and done by unarmed nations in the face of odds.

" What does it matter 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?"

Democracy and violence can ill go together.
Evolution of democracy is not possible if we are not prepared to hear the other side.

A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.


Hatred ever kills, love never dies; such is the vast difference between the two.
What is obtained by love is retained for all time. What is obtained by hatred proves
a burden in reality for it increases hatred.

Non-cooperation with evil is a sacred duty.

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

The weak can never forgive.
Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

What kind of victory is it when someone is left defeated?

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

It may be long before the law of love will be recognized
in international affairs. The machinery's of government
stand between and hide the hearts of one people
from those of another.

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.

You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees.
An evil system never deserves such allegiance.
Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil.
A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.

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.

Violent means will give violent freedom.

However much I may sympathize with and admire worthy motives, I am an
uncompromising opponent of violent methods even to serve the noblest of causes.

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 and democracy?

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.

"Like the bee gathering honey from the different flowers, the wise person
accepts the essence of the different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions."

Hate the sin and not the sinner is a precept which though easy enough to
understand is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred
spreads in the world.

Nonviolence and cowardice are contradictory terms. Nonviolence is the
greatest virtue, cowardice the greatest vice. Nonviolence springs from
love, cowardice from hate. Nonviolence always suffers, cowardice would
always inflict suffering. Perfect nonviolence is the highest bravery.
Nonviolent conduct is never demoralizing, cowardice always is.

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.

Man's nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been known to yield
to the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature.

It is the law of love that rules mankind. Had violence, i.e. hate, ruled us
we should have become extinct long ago. And yet, the tragedy of it is that
the so-called civilized men and nations conduct themselves as if the basis
of society was violence.

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.

Whether humanity will consciously follow the law of love, I do not know.
But that need not disturb me. The law will work just as the law of
gravitation works, whether we accept it or not. The person who discovered
the law of love was a far greater scientist than any of our modern
scientists. Only our explorations have not gone far enough and
so it is not possible for everyone to see all its workings.

It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never
able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.
This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good
heart whatever they might have to say.


Gandhi was once asked what he thought about western civilization. His
response was: "I think it would be a good idea."