There was much in such a society that was primitive and insecure and it certainly could never measure up to the demands of the present epoch. But in such a society are contained the seeds of revolutionary democracy in which none will be held in slavery.
One may detest the wickedness of a brother without hating him.
Prosecution of the constructive programme means constructing the structure of Swaraj.
In the midst of darkness, light persists.
It may be long before the law of love will be recognised in international affairs. The machineries of government stand between and hide the hearts of one people from those of another.
A labourer cannot sit at the table and write, but a man who has worked at the table all his life can certainly take to physical labour.
I believe in advaita, I believe in the essential unity of man and for that matter of all that lives.
I really wanted to retire and rest and spend more time with my children, my grandchildren and of course with my wife. But the problems are such that for anybody with a conscience who can use whatever influence he may have to try to bring about peace, it's difficult to say no.
Our differences are our strength as a species and as a world community.
No Swaraj government with any pretension to being a popular government can possibly be organised and maintained on a war-footing.
Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, you had the time to sit down and think, and we discovered that sitting down just to think is one of the best ways of keeping yourself fresh and able, to be able to address the problems facing you, and you had the opportunity, also, of examining your past.
For a satyagrahi brigade only those are eligible who believe in ahimsa and satya.
My modesty has prevented me from declaring from the house top that the message of non-co-operation, nonviolence and swadeshi is a message to the world.
I have never regarded any man as my superior, either in my life outside or inside prison.
Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.
The yajna of our age and for us is the spinning wheel.
When a man vowed to nonviolence as the law governing human beings dares to refer to war, he can only do it so as to strain every nerve to avoid it.
To benefit by others' killing and to delude oneself into the belief that one is being very religions and nonviolent is sheer self-deception.
When untouchability is rooted out, these distinctions will vanish and no one will consider himself superior to any other.
Duly Enlightened Gandhi's head by Mall of the 'Free Press Journal,' Bombay, in 1932Watches may disagree, but let us not.
Abject poverty is demeaning, is an assault on the dignity of those that suffer it. In the end it demeans us all. It makes the freedom of all of us less meaningful.
The message of khaddar can penetrate to the remotest villages if we only will that it shall be so.
Under my plan, the state will be there to carry out the will of the people, not to dictate to them or to force them to do its will.
Truth stands for the fact, nonviolence negates the fact.
I wish to change there minds, not kill them for weaknesses we all poses.
Far better than emasculation would be the bravery of those who use physical force. Far better than cowardice would be meeting one's death fighting.
I have even seen the writings suggesting that I am playing a deep game, that I am using the present turmoil to foist my fads on India, and am making religious experiments at India's expense. I can only answer that Satyagraha is made of sterner stuff. There is nothing reserved and nothing secret in it.
Man has the supreme knack of deceiving himself; the Englishman is supremest among men.
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.
Life is but an endless series of experiments.
If your heart acquires strength, you will be able to remove blemishes from others without thinking evil of them.
The cause is everything. Those even who are dearest to us must be shunted for the sake of the cause.
Heroes are made in the hour of defeat. Success is, therefore, well described as a series of glorious defeats.
I cherish my own freedom dearly, but I care even more for your freedom. Too many have died since I went to prison. Too many have suffered for the love of freedom. I owe it to their widows, to their orphans, to their mothers and their fathers, who have grieved and wept for them ..... Not only have I suffered during these long lonely wasted years. I am no less life-loving than you are. But I cannot sell the birthright of the people to be free ....... Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts. Your freedom and mine cannot be separated.
Each of us, as citizens, has a role to play in creating a better world for our children
I came alone in this world, I have walked alone in the valley of the shadow of death, and I shall quit alone when the time comes.
Our rich and varied cultural heritage has aprofound power to help build our nation
If we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with children; and if they will grow up in their natural innocence, we won't have to struggle; we won't have to pass fruitless idle resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are covered with that peace and love for which consciously or unconsciously the whole world is hungering.
For me popular violence is as much an obstruction in our path as the Government violence.
A nonviolent struggle necessarily involves construction on a small scale. It cannot therefore lead to tamas or darkness or inertia.
I approach every problem with optimism.
The only difference between man and man all the world over is one of degree, and not of kind, even as there is between trees of the same species. Where in is the cause for anger, envy or discrimination?
The platform of services is as big as the world. It is never overcrowded.
I want to sleep for eternity with a broad smile on my face. I want those who remain behind to say this man has done his duty.
The fullest application of ahimsa does make life impossible.
History and the generations to come will judge our leaders by the decisions they make in the coming weeks.
Even the most sublime ideas sound ridiculous if heard too often. Be the change that you want to see in the world.
Well, India is a country of nonsense
The Swaraj of my dream recognizes no race or religious distinctions.
The real property that a parent can transmit to all equally is his or her character and educational facilities.
I have retired, but if there's anything that would kill me it is to wake up in the morning not knowing what to do.
I am just not thinking of India's deliverance. It will come, but will it be worth if England and France fall, or if they come out victorious over Germany ruined and humbled?
The spinning wheel is itself an exquisite piece of machinery. My head daily bows in reverence to its unknown inventor.
Sanitation is more important than Independence.
It is degrading both for man and woman that woman should be called upon or induced to forsake the hearth and shoulder the rifle for the protection of that hearth.
Unless nonviolence of the strong is really developed among us, there should be no thought of civil disobedience for Swaraj, whether within the states or in British India.
If I was to be their real teacher and guardian, I must touch their hearts, I must share their joys and sorrows, I must help them to solve the problems that faced them, and I must take along the right channel the surging aspirations of their youth.
The principle of majority does not work when differences on fundamentals are involved.
If you must kill English officials, why not kill me instead?
My Swaraj is to keep intact the genius of our civilization.
