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Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi Quotes

Civil rights leader

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Famous Mahatma Gandhi Quotes

“Had we adopted non-violence as the weapon of the strong, because we realised that it was more effective than any other weapon, in fact the mightiest force in the world, we would have made use of its full potency and not have discarded it as soon as the fight against the British was over or we were in a position to wield conventional weapons. But as I have already said, we adopted it out of our helplessness. If we had the atom bomb, we would have used it against the British.”

IfsWorldMadeSaidFactsUseUsedFightingStrongForceViolencePositionWeaponsBritishBombsAtomsConventionalAdoptedRealisedHelplessnessNon ViolenceDiscardedPotencyAtom Bomb
Author:Mahatma Gandhi
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“Just as one must learn the art of killing in the training for violence, so one must learn the art of dying in the training for non-violence. Violence does not mean the emancipation from fear, but discovering the means of combating the cause of fear. Nonviolence, on the other hand, has no cause for fear. The votary of nonviolence has to cultivate the capacity for sacrifice of the highest type in order to be free from fear. He recks not if he should lose his land, his wealth, his life.”

IfsShouldMeanDoeArtHandsOrderCausesLosesWealthViolenceSacrificeLandDyingTypeHighestTrainingCapacityKillingNonviolenceDiscoveringNon ViolenceEmancipation
Author:Mahatma Gandhi
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“The science of war leads one to dictatorship, pure and simple. The science of non-violence alone can lead one to pure democracy. Power based on love is thousand times more effective and permanent than power derived from fear of punishment. It is a blasphemy to say non-violence can be practiced only by individuals and never by nations which are composed of individuals. The nearest approach to purest anarchy would be a democracy based on non-violence. A society organized and run on the basis of complete non-violence would be the purest anarchy.”

WarWould BeRunningIndividualNationsSimpleLove IsDemocracyViolenceThousandPureApproachBasesPunishmentPermanentOrganizedAnarchyDictatorshipNon ViolenceBlasphemy
Author:Mahatma Gandhi
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“I came in contact with every known Indian anarchist in London. Their bravery impressed me, but I felt that their zeal was misguided. I felt that violence was no remedy for India's ills, and that her civilisation required the use of a different and higher weapon for self-protection. - Hind Swaraj”

DifferentSelfUseFeltKnownViolenceHigherWeaponsIndiaBraveryProtectionLondonContactIndianRemedyImpressedZealAnarchistCivilisationMisguidedSelf Protection
Book:Hind Swaraj
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“An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so. Now the law of nonviolence says that violence should be resisted not by counter-violence but by nonviolence. This I do by breaking the law and by peacefully submitting to arrest and imprisonment.”

ShouldSpiritualLawViolenceSpeciesNonviolenceUnjustDisobedienceNon ViolenceCivil DisobedienceImprisonmentBreachViolence And PeaceBreaking The LawPeaceful ProtestUnjust Laws
Book:Gandhi on Non-violence
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“Hinduism is a living organism liable to growth and decay subject to the laws of Nature. One and indivisible at the root, it has grown into a vast tree with innumerable branches. The changes in the season affect it. It has its autumn and its summer, its winter and its spring. It is, and is not, based on scriptures. It does not derive its authority from one book. Non violence has found the highest expression and application in Hinduism.”

DoeBookLawFoundGrowthViolenceTreeSubjectsExpressionAuthoritySummerHighestSpringRootsSeasonsWinterScriptureBranchesAutumnApplicationHinduismDecayOrganismsLaws Of NatureNon ViolenceLiableIndivisibleLiving OrganismsHindu Religion
Author:Mahatma Gandhi
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“Non-violent resistance implies the very opposite of weakness. Defiance combined with non-retaliatory acceptance of repression from one's opponents is active, not passive. It requires strength, and there is nothing automatic or intuitive about the resoluteness required for using non-violent methods in political struggle and the quest for Truth.”

PoliticalStruggleViolenceAcceptanceWeaknessOppositesMethodActiveViolentResistanceOpponentsQuestsPassiveIntuitiveRepressionDefianceNon ViolentPolitical StruggleNon Violent Resistance
Author:Mahatma Gandhi
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“In the secret of my heart I am in perpetual quarrel with God that He should allow such things [as the war] to go on. My non-violence seems almost impotent. But the answer comes at the end of the daily quarrel that neither God nor non-violence is impotent. Impotence is in men. I must try on without losing faith even though I may break in the attempt.”

MenShouldTryingHeartMayWarEndsSeemsAnswersSecretBreakViolenceGoes OnMy HeartLosingPerpetualQuarrelsNon ViolenceImpotenceLosing Faith
Book:Gandhi on Non-violence
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