Principle Quotes

Satyagraha, of which civil resistance is but a part, is to me the universal law of life.

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

The principle of majority does not work when differences on fundamentals are involved.

Virtue in its grandest aspect is neither more nor less than following reason.

To die without killing is the badge of a satyagrahi.

Emancipation is the demand of civilization. That is a principle; everything else is an intrigue.

It is better to suffer injustice than to do it.

To go to prison because of your convictions and be prepared to suffer for what you believe in, is something worthwhile. It is an achievement for a man to do his duty on earth irrespective of the consequences.

It is my principle that the will of the majority should always prevail.

Where the principle of difference [between political parties] is as substantial and as strongly pronounced as between the republicans and the monocrats of our country, I hold it as honorable to take a firm and decided part and as immoral to pursue a middle line, as between the parties of honest men and rogues, into which every country is divided.

It can never be necessary to do what is not honourable.

Self-respect knows no considerations.

I am a democrat only on principle, not by instinct, nobody is that. Doubtless some people say they are, but this world is grievously given to lying.

If I have to choose between peace and righteousness, I'll choose righteousness.

Ahimsa is the highest duty. Even if we cannot practice it in full, we must try to understand its spirit and refrain as far as is humanly possible from violence.

The value of a principle is the number of things it will explain.

If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.

An unjust law in itself is an act of violence.

I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.

If there is one tendency of the day which more than any other is unhealthy and undesirable, it is the tendency to deify mere "smartness," unaccompanied by a sense of moral accountability. We shall never make our republic what it should be until as a people we thoroughly understand and put in practice the doctrine that success is abhorrent if attained by the sacrifice of the fundamental principles of morality.

To be right is more honorable than to be law abiding.

And as to you, Sir, treacherous in private friendship and a hypocrite in public life, the world will be puzzled to decide whether you are an apostate or an impostor; whether you have abandoned good principles, or whether you ever had any.

Nonviolence is an unchangeable creed.

One of the most important principles of success is developing the habit of going the extra mile.

If we are nonviolent through and through, our nonviolence would have been self-evident.

Leadership does not always wear the harness of compromise. Once and again one of those great influences which we call a Cause arises in the midst of a nation. Men of strenuous minds and high ideals come forward.... The attacks they sustain are more cruel than the collision of arms.... Friends desert and despise them.... They stand alone and oftentimes are made bitter by their isolation.... They are doing nothing less than defy public opinion, and shall they convert it by blows. Yes.

The avowed policy of non-co-operation has been not to make political use of the disputes between labour and capital.

No society can possibly be built on a denial of individual freedom.

I do not believe in lawyers, in that mode of attacking or defending a man, because you descend to meet the judge on his own ground, and, in cases of the highest importance, it is of no consequence whether a man breaks a human law or not. Let lawyers decide trivial cases.

Reverence for life is the highest court of appeal.

The person who pays an ounce of principle for a pound of popularity gets badly cheated.

Non-violence 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.

Those who conduct themselves with morality, integrity and consistency need not fear the forces of inhumanity and cruelty.

A really great people, proud and high spirited, would face all the disasters of war rather than purchase that base prosperity which is bought at the price of national honor.

Let hundreds like me perish, but let truth triumph.

Rightly to be great Is not to stir without great argument, But greatly to find quarrel in a straw When honour's at the stake.

Every man who would do anything well, must come to it from a higher ground.

It is much more difficult to live for nonviolence than to die for it.

Nonviolence of the strong cannot be a mere policy. It must be a creed, or a passion, if 'creed' is objected to.

Things always work according to their nature.

Do what is right, though the world may perish.

A satyagrahi, whilst he is ever ready to fight, must be equally eager for peace.

Service is not possible unless it is rooted in love orahimsa.

Vanity asks, is it popular? Politics ask, will it work? But conscience and morality ask, is it right?

I would rather be a man of conviction than a man of conformity

Principle will, in... most... cases open the way for us to correct conclusion.

My creed of nonviolence does not favour the punishment of thieves and dacoits and even murderers.

Satyagraha is a relentless search for truth and a determination to search truth.

Means to be means must always be within our reach, and so ahimsa is our supreme duty.

I believe the declaration that ‘all men are created equal’ is the great fundamental principle upon which our free institutions rest.

Love of goodness without love of learning degenerates into simple-mindedness. Love of knowledge without love of learning degenerates into utter lack of principle. Love of faithfulness without love of learning degenerates into injurious disregard of consequences. Love of uprightness without love of learning degenerates into harshness. Love of courage without love of learning degenerates into insubordination. Love of strong character without love of learning degenerates into mere recklessness.

Don't give up on your ideals. Don't compromise. Don't turn to expediency. And for heaven's sake . . . don't get cynical.

There are times when you have to obey a call which is the highest of all, i.e. the voice of conscience even though such obedience may cost many a bitter tear, and even more, separation from friends, from family, from the state, to which you may belong, from all that you have held as dear as life itself. For this obedience is the law of our being.

There is nothing so bad or so good that you will not find Englishmen doing it; but you will never find an Englishman in the wrong. He does everything on principle.

The end is inherent in the means.

It is against the spirit of ahimsa to overawe even one person into submission.

I am nothing, truth is everything.

Nonviolence is a universal law acting under all circumstances.

I was made, by the law, a criminal, not because of what I had done, but because of what I stood for, because of what I thought, because of my conscience... If I had my time over I would do the same again. So would any man who dares call himself a man.

Seeming failure is not of the law of satyagrahabut of incompetence of the satyagrahi by whatever cause induced.