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I claim
no perfection for myself. But I do claim to be a passionate seeker
after Truth, which is but another name for God.
Poverty
is the worst form of violence.
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 blown off my feet by
any. I refuse to live in other people's houses as an interloper, a
beggar or a slave.
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.
Friendship that insists upon agreement on all matters is notworth
the name. Friendship to be real must ever sustain the weight of
honest differences, however sharp they be.
If
co-operation is a duty, I hold that non-co-operation also under
certain conditions is equally a duty.
An ounce of practice is worth more then tons of preaching.
When
restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes
irresistible.
Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is
mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the
ingenuity of man.
No
religion which is narrow and which cannot satisfy the test of
reason, will survive the coming reconstruction of society in which
the values will have changed and character, not possession of
wealth, title or birth will be the test of merit.
Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with
good.
A 'no'
uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a 'yes'
merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble.
My
religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God.
Non-violence is the means of realising Him.
Let no
one charge me with ever having abused or encouraged weakness or
surrendered on matters of principle. But I have said, as I say
again, that every trifle must not be dignified into a principle.
Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the
growth of a true democratic spirit.
In mass
civil resistance leadership is essential; in individual civil
resistance every resister is his own leader.
The weak
can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
Even as
wisdom often comes from the mouths of babies, so does it often come
from the mouths of old people. The golden rule is to test everything
in the light of reason and experience, no matter from where it
comes.
Non-cooperation is directed not against men but against measures. It
is not directed against the Governors, but against the system they
administer. The roots of non-cooperation lie not in hatred but in
justice, if not in love.
It is
the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity.
The
history of the world is full of men who rose to leadership, by sheer
force of self-confidence, bravery and tenacity.
Freedom
is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make
mistakes.
As soon
as we lose the moral basis, we cease to be religious. There is no
such thing as religion over-riding morality. Man, for
instance,cannot be untruthful, cruel or incontinent and claim to
have God on his side.
Ahimsa means not to injure any creature by thought, word or
deed, not even to the supposed advantage of this creature.
Ahimsa calls for the strength and courage to suffer without
retaliation, to receive blows without returning any.
I
believe in confessing one's mistakes and correcting them. Such
confession strengthens one and purifies the soul.
Woman is
the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacities. She has
the right to participate in the minutest details in the activities
of man, and she has an equal right of freedom and liberty with him.
Experience teaches that animal food is unsuited to those who would
curb their passions. But it is wrong to over-estimate the importance
of food in the formation of character or in subjugating the flesh.
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.
I hold
that the true education of the intellect can only come through a
proper exercise and training of the body. But unless the development
of the mind and body goes hand in hand with a corresponding
awakening of the soul, the former alone would prove to be a poor
lopsided affair.
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.
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.
Whenever
I see an erring man, I say to myself I have also erred; when I see a
lustful man I say to myself, so was I once; and in this way I feel
kinship with everyone in the world and feel that I cannot be happy
without the humblest of us being happy.
It is an
arrogant assumption to say that human beings are lords and masters
of the lower creatures. On the contrary, being endowed with greater
things in life, they are the trustees of the lower kingdom.
The
truest test of civilization, culture, and dignity is character, not
clothing.
The real
property that a parent can transmit to all equally is his or her
character and educational facilities.
Civil
disobedience presupposes willing obedience of our self-imposed
rules, and without it civil disobedience would be cruel joke.
Disobedience to be civil has to be open and nonviolent.
Non-cooperation and civil disobedience are different but [are]
branches of the same tree call Satyagraha (truth-force).
Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in
man.
How can
one be compelled to accept slavery? I simply refuse to do the
master's bidding. He may torture me, break my bones to atoms and
even kill me. He will then have my dead body, not my obedience.
Ultimately, therefore, it is I who am the victor and not he, for he
has failed in getting me to do what he wanted done.
The
golden rule is to act fearlessly upon what one believes to be right.
I would
far rather that Hinduism died than untouchability lived.
To
say that a single human being, because of his birth, becomes an
untouchable, unapproachable, or invisible, is to deny God.
Suffering has its well-defined limits. Suffering can be both wise
and unwise, and when the limit is reached, to prolong it would be
not unwise but the height of folly.
When I
despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and
love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a
time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think
of it, always.
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