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Mahatma Gandhi

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Epigrams From Gandhiji

Gandhi quotes on various subjects

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KEY TO SOURCES | GLOSSARY - SOURCES


Faith

» Faith becomes lame, when it ventures into matters pertaining to reason. T-7-36

» A faith gained in strength only when people were willing to lay down their lives for it. T-7-386

» Faith is like the Himalaya mountains which cannot possibly change. T-3-244

» Faith is not a delicate flower which would wither away under the slightest stormy weather. T-3-244

» Robust faith in oneself and brave trust of the opponent, so called or real, is the best safeguard. T-8-133

» Exercise of faith will be the safest where there is a clear determination summarily to reject all that is contrary to truth and love. T-2-313

» A living faith cannot be manufactured by the rule of majority. MM-341

» What is faith worth if it is not translated into action? T-5-180

» If you have faith in the cause and the means and in God, the hot sun will be cool for you. T-2-182

» It is poor faith that needs fair weather for standing firm. That alone is true faith that stands the foulest weather. XXV-337

» Nothing can be more hurtful to an honourable man than that he should be accused of bad faith. XX-160

» Faith is not imparted like secular subjects. It is given through the language of the heart. TIG-70

» Every living faith must have within itself the power of rejuvenation if it is to live. TIG-73

» Work without faith is like an attempt to reach the bottom of a bottomless pit. MM-5

» A man with a grain of faith in God never loses hope, because he ever believes in the ultimate triumph of Truth. XXV-188

» A man of faith does not bargain or stipulate with God. XXV-88

» Just as the body cannot exist without blood, so the soul needs the matchless and pure strength of faith. TIG-112

» Nonviolence succeeds only when we have a real living faith in God. T-5-14

» A satyagrahi should have a living faith in God. T-5-92

» The Gita is not for those who have no faith. T-2-2

» I am a seasoned soldier of nonviolence, and I have evidence enough to sustain my faith. T-5-222

» I have made the world's faith in God my own and as my faith is effaceable, I regard that faith as amounting to experience. TIG-4

» I know nothing of the science of astrology and I consider it to be a science, if it is a science, of doubtful value, to be severely left alone by those who have any faith in Providence. T-2-314

» It is the faith and perseverance and single-mindedness with which Hitler has perfected his weapons of destruction that commands my admiration. T-5-291

» God's word is: 'He who strives never perishes'. I have implicit faith in that promise. TIG-4

» My effort should never be to undermine another's faith but to make him a better follower of his own faith. T-2-343

» My faith in non-co-operation is as bright as ever. XXV-336

» My faith is brightest in the midst of impenetrable darkness. MM-132

» My faith runs so very much faster than my reason that I can challenge the whole world and say, 'God is, was and ever shall be'. TIG-13

» The only tyrant I accept in this world is the 'still small voice' within. MM-14

» My implicit faith in nonviolence does mean yielding to minorities when they are really weak. MM-343

» Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed. T-2-97

» With me the connection between the cosmic phenomena and human behaviour is a living faith that draws me nearer to God, humbles me and makes me readier for facing Him. T-3-251

» Without a belief in my programme and without an acceptance of my condition, you will ruin me, ruin yourselves and ruin the cause. T-5-265

» All faiths constitute a revelation of Truth, but all are imperfect and liable to error. TIG-65

» Tolerance implies a gratuitous assumption of the inferiority of other faiths to one's own. TIG-64

» What faith can you place in a general or a soldier who lacks resolution and determination, who says, 'I shall keep guard as long as I can'? T-2-365

» Can a general fight on the strength of soldiers, who, he knows, have no faith in him? T-5-266

» Decency requires that when a programme is approved by the majority, all should carry it out faithfully. T-5-225

» Even as a tree has a single trunk, but many branches and leaves, there is one religion but any number of faiths. TIG-65

» He who would in his own person test the fact of God's presence can do so by a living faith.T-2-213

» If you have no character to lose, people will have no faith in you. T-3-34

» Khaddar is an activity that can absorb all the time of all available men and women and grown-up children, if they have faith. XXV-365

» Legal imposition avoids the necessity of honour or good faith. XXVI-162

» Prayer is an impossibility without a living faith in the presence of God within. TIG-55

» The renunciation of the Gita is the acid test of faith. T-2-310

» Those who are lacking in bhakti (devotion), lacking in faith, are ill qualified to interpret the scriptures. TIG-96


Fast - Fasting

» Fasting and prayer are common injunctions in my religion. T-2-152

» Fasting for light and penance is a hoary institution. T-3-165

» A pure fast, like duty, is its own reward. T-8-247

» Fasting is an institution as old as Adam. It has been resorted to for self-purification or for some ends, noble as well as ignoble. T-5-61

» A complete fast is a complete and literal denial of self. It is the truest prayer. MM-35

» A genuine fast cleanses the body, mind and soul. It crucifies the flesh and to that extent sets the soul free. MM-35

» Fasts should not be undertaken out of anger. Anger is a short madness. T-8-5

» All fasting and all penance must, as far as possible, be secret. T-2-86

» What the eyes are for the outer world, fasts are for the inner. T-2-218

» A fast to be true must be accompanied by a readiness to receive pure thoughts and determination to resist all Satan's temptations. TIG-52

» When a man fasts, it is not the gallons of water he drinks that sustains him, but God. T-8-108

» My fast is, among other things, meant to qualify me for achieving that equal and selfless love. T-2-151

» My fast is a matter between God and myself. T-2-150

» My religion teaches me that whenever there is distress which one can not remove, one must fast and pray. T-2-148

» My austerities, fasting and prayers are, I know, of no value, if I rely upon them for reforming me. TIG-153


Fear - Fearless

» Fear is a disease worse than malaria or kalaazar; these diseases kill the body, fear kills the soul. T-2-304

» Fear of disease kills more men than disease itself. T-7-110

» A fear-stricken person can never know God, and one who knows God will never fear the mortal man. T-2-304

» The fear of the judge within is more terrible than that of the one without. T-2-47

» Where there is fear, there is no religion. T-2-230

» There is always the fear of self-righteousness possessing us, the fear of arrogating to ourselves a superiority that we do not possess. T-5-243

» It is weakness which breeds fear, and fear breeds distrust. T-2-133

» There would be no one to frighten you if you refuse to be afraid. T-2-302

» The man who fears man falls from the estate of man. Fear God alone. T-2-302

» The greatest help you can give me is to banish fear from your hearts. T-7-260

» External fears cease of their own accord when once we have conquered these traitors within the camp. MM-60

» For a nonviolent person the whole world is one family. He will thus fear none, nor will others fear him. T-5-304

» Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. XXV-563

» Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment. XXV-563

» A man who throws himself on God ceases to fear man. T-2-369

» It needs more than a heart of oak to shed all fear except the fear of God. T-4-33

» You will find that God is always by the side of the fearless. Therefore, we should fear Him alone and seek His protection. T-7-273

» The golden rule is to act fearlessly upon what one believes to be right. MM-60

» Fearlessness presupposes calmness and peace of mind. MM-60


Fight

» I am convinced that the masses do not want to fight if the leaders do not. MM-400

» My fight against untouchability is a fight against the impure in humanity. T-3-168


Fire

» An incendiary uses fire for destructive and nefarious purposes, a housewife makes daily use of it in preparing nourishing food for mankind. MM-448


Flag

» A national spirit is necessary for national existence. A flag is a material aid to the development of such a spirit. XXVI-544


Flattery

» Flattery and anger are the two sides of weakness, one the obverse, other the reverse. The reverse - anger - is worse than the obverse - flattery. XXV-574


Force

» Love is the subtlest force in the world. XXV-392

» The force of nonviolence is infinitely more wonderful and subtle than the material forces of nature, like electricity. T-3-112

» The force generated by nonviolence is infinitely greater than the force of all the arms invented by man's ingenuity. T-5-281

» The truth is that God is the force. He is the essence of life. He is pure and undefiled consciousness. He is eternal. TIG-84

» To conquer subtle passions, seems to me, to be harder by far than the physical conquest of the world by the force of arms. TIG-58

» The more efficient a force is, the more silent and the more subtle it is. XXV-392


Foreign Cloth

» Love of foreign cloth has brought foreign domination, pauperism and, what is worst, shame to many a home. T-2-55

» Untouchability of foreign cloth is as much a virtue with all of us as untouchability of the suppressed classes must be a sin with every devout Hindu. T-2-53

» In burning my foreign cloths, I burn my shame. T-2-64


Forgiveness

» Forgiveness is the quality of the brave, not of the cowardly. MM-473

» Forgiveness is a quality of the soul and therefore a positive quality. MM-420

» The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. MM-421

» A definite forgiveness would mean a definite recognition of our strength. T-2-5

» A mouse hardly forgives a cat when it allows itself to be torn to pieces by her. T-24

» Forgiveness adorns a soldier. T-4-2

» With enlightened forgiveness must come a mighty wave of strength in us, which would make it impossible for a Dyer and a Frank Johnson to heap affront on India's devoted head. T-2-4


Freedom

» Freedom of a nation cannot be won by solitary acts of heroism, though they may be of the true type, never by heroism so called. T-2-333

» Freedom is like a birth. Till we are fully free, we are slaves. MM-311

» Freedom of worship, even of public speech, would become a farce if interference became the order of the day. T-8-132

» Freedom received though the efforts of others, however benevolent, cannot be retained when such effort is withdrawn. T-5-276

» Freedom battles are not fought without paying heavy prices. T-5-57

» No charter of freedom will be worth looking at which does not ensure the same measure of freedom for the minorities as for the majority. T-5-201

» No government on earth can make men, who have realized freedom in their hearts, salute against their will. T-7-113

» No society can possibly be built on a denial of individual freedom. MM-312

» When freedom is in jeopardy, non-co-operation may be a duty and prison may be a palace. XXV-393

» God demands nothing less than complete self - surrender as the price for the only real freedom that is worth having. TIG-57

» Is it not possible for us all to realize that the masses will never mount to freedom through murder? T-5-258

» True ahimsa should mean a complete freedom from ill-will, anger and hate and an overflowing love for all. T-2-318

» Bomb-throwers have discredited the cause of freedom, in whose name they threw the bombs. T-2-357

» There is nothing but nonviolence to fall back upon for retaining our freedom, even as we had to do for gaining it. T-7-95

» Freedom from all attachment is the realization of God as Truth. TIG-37

» Freedom of India will demonstrate to all the exploited races of the earth that their freedom is very near. TIG-7-2

» India's freedom will not be won by violence but only by the purest suffering without retaliation. XXV-277

» We want freedom for our country, but not at the expense or exploitation of others, not so as to degrade other countries. T-2-200

» I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be swept off my feet by any of them. EWE-11

» If any Englishman dedicated his life to securing the freedom of India, resisting tyranny and serving the land, I should welcome that Englishman as an Indian. X-41

» I would far rather that India perished than that she won freedom at the sacrifice of truth. T-3-133

» I would not sell the vital interests of the untouchables for the sake of winning freedom for India. T-3-113

» My interest in India's freedom will cease if she adopts violent means, for their fruit will not be freedom but slavery in disguise. T-2-126

» For my own part, I do not want the freedom of India if it means extinction of England or the disappearance of Englishmen. T-2-200

» Through realization of freedom of India, I hope to realize and carry on the mission of brotherhood of man. T-2-353

» It will be hard to find a parallel in history in which unarmed people have represented the urge for freedom, turning their armlessness into the central means for deliverance. T-5-193

» Though we are politically free, we are hardly free from the subtle domination of the West. EWE-28

» Nothing depends upon the death of an individual, be he ever so great, but much depends upon the freedom of India. T-2-314

» A slave has not the freedom even to do the right thing. T-2-6

» A slave- holder, who has decided to abolish slavery, does not consult his slaves whether they desire freedom or not. T-5-201


Friends - Friendship

» Friends to be friends are not called upon to agree even on most points. T-2-214

» Death is no fiend, he is the truest of friends. He delivers us from agony. T-2-237

» It is the acid test of nonviolence that in a nonviolent conflict there is no rancour left behind, and in the end the enemies are converted into friends. T-4-291

» My attitude towards the English is one of utter friendliness and respect. XXVI-52