Ethicist Quotes

“The music of life is in danger of being lost in the music of the voice.”

“I must say that, beyond occasionally exposing me to laughter, my constitutional shyness has been no dis-advantage whatever. In fact I can see that, on the contrary, it has been all to my advantage.”

“Democracy and dependence on the military and police are incompatible.”

“No sophistry, no jugglery in figures can explain away the evidence that the skeletons in many villages present to the naked eye.”

“A principle is a principle and in no case can it be watered down because of our incapacity to live it in practice. We have to strive to achieve it, and the striving should be conscious, deliberate and hard.”

“The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.”

“It is not a mistake to commit a mistake, for no one commits a mistake knowing it to be one. But it is a mistake not to correct the mistake after knowing it to be one. If you are afraid of committing a mistake, you are afraid of doing anything at all. You will correct your mistakes whenever you find them.”

“Truth and nonviolence are both the means and the end, and given the right type of men, the legislatures can be the means of achieving the concrete pursuit of truth and nonviolence.”

“Swaraj as conceived by me does not mean the end of kingship.”

“Distinguish between real needs and artificial wants and control the latter.”

“Violent means will give violent freedom.”

“Let the Jews who claim to be the chosen race prove their title by choosing the way of non-violence for vindicating their position on earth. Every country is their home, including Palestine, not by aggression but by loving service”

“My interest in India's freedom will cease if she adopts violent means, for their fruit will not be freedom but slavery in disguise.”

“The ally we must cultivate is the part of our enemy which knows the truth.”

“My shyness has been in reality my shield and buckler. It has allowed me to grow. It has helped me in my discernment of truth.”

“A certain degree of physical harmony and comfort is necessary, but above a certain level it becomes a hindrance instead of a help. Therefore the ideal of creating an unlimited number of wants and satisfying them seems to be a delusion and a snare.”

“The greatest menace to the world today is the growing, exploiting, irresponsible imperialism.”

“I can no more preach nonviolence to a cowardly man than I can tempt a blind man to enjoy healthy scenes.”

“Freedom of India will demonstrate to all the exploited races of the earth that their freedom is very near.”

“I simply want to tell the story of my experiments with truth...as my life consists of nothing but those experiments.”

“No one can dominate a population of 80,000,000.”

“Unless discipline is rooted in nonviolence, it might prove to be a source of infinite mischief.”

“I have known only one way of carrying on missionary work, viz., by personal example and discussion with searchers for knowledge.”

“Tolerance obviously does not disturb the distinction between right and wrong, or good and evil.”

“When the fear of jail disappears, repression puts heart into the people.”