Mahatma Gandhi

Bekannte Zitate von Mahatma Gandhi

The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires change of heart.

Faith... must be enforced by reason... when faith becomes blind it dies.

It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.

Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.

Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.

Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.

I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles but today it means getting along with people.

What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good idea.

In a gentle way, you can shake the world.

Only he can take great resolves who has indomitable faith in God and has fear of God.

A vow is a purely religious act which cannot be taken in a fit of passion. It can be taken only with a mind purified and composed and with God as witness.

To deprive a man of his natural liberty and to deny to him the ordinary amenities of life is worse then starving the body it is starvation of the soul, the dweller in the body.

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary the evil it does is permanent.

I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't presume to probe into the faults of others.

Purity of personal life is the one indispensable condition for building up a sound education.

Where love is, there God is also.

Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed.

Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man.

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.

Each one prays to God according to his own light.

A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.

I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.

I know, to banish anger altogether from one's breast is a difficult task. It cannot be achieved through pure personal effort. It can be done only by God's grace.

Violent men have not been known in history to die to a man. They die up to a point.

If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time. And a living faith will last in the midst of the blackest storm.

Justice that love gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment.

Where there is love there is life.

Before the throne of the Almighty, man will be judged not by his acts but by his intentions. For God alone reads our hearts.

Unwearied ceaseless effort is the price that must be paid for turning faith into a rich infallible experience.

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.

Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.

Every formula of every religion has in this age of reason, to submit to the acid test of reason and universal assent.

Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.

Religion is more than life. Remember that his own religion is the truest to every man even if it stands low in the scales of philosophical comparison.

Fear has its use but cowardice has none.

But for my faith in God, I should have been a raving maniac.

Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.

What is true of the individual will be tomorrow true of the whole nation if individuals will but refuse to lose heart and hope.

Is it not enough to know the evil to shun it? If not, we should be sincere enough to admit that we love evil too well to give it up.

I will far rather see the race of man extinct than that we should become less than beasts by making the noblest of God's creation, woman, the object of our lust.

God, as Truth, has been for me a treasure beyond price. May He be so to every one of us.

Non-violence is the article of faith.

Fear of death makes us devoid both of valour and religion. For want of valour is want of religious faith.

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

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

Just as a man would not cherish living in a body other than his own, so do nations not like to live under other nations, however noble and great the latter may be.

Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared.

As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves.

I believe in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the world.

God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless.

If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

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

The good man is the friend of all living things.

We should meet abuse by forbearance. Human nature is so constituted that if we take absolutely no notice of anger or abuse, the person indulging in it will soon weary of it and stop.

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

Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause.

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

There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.

Man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep.

It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity.

The main purpose of life is to live rightly, think rightly, act rightly. The soul must languish when we give all our thought to the body.

There is no principle worth the name if it is not wholly good.

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever.

Man falls from the pursuit of the ideal of plan living and high thinking the moment he wants to multiply his daily wants. Man's happiness really lies in contentment.

Are creeds such simple things like the clothes which a man can change at will and put on at will? Creeds are such for which people live for ages and ages.

There is more to life than increasing its speed.

I do all the evil I can before I learn to shun it? Is it not enough to know the evil to shun it? If not, we should be sincere enough to admit that we love evil too well to give it up.

It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.

Anger is the enemy of non-violence and pride is a monster that swallows it up.

Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.

Infinite striving to be the best is man's duty it is its own reward. Everything else is in God's hands.

I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers.

My life is my message.

God is, even though the whole world deny him. Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained.

Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living?

Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.

My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realising Him.

A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal.

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.