"A principle is the expression of perfection, and as imperfect beings like us cannot practise perfection, we devise every moment limits of its compromise in practice."

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More quotes from: Mohandas Gandhi

• "A 'No' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'Yes' merely uttered to ..."
• "A certain degree of physical harmony and comfort is necessary, but above a certain level ..."
• "A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave. "
• "A dissolute character is more dissolute in thought than in deed. And the same is ..."
• "A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes. "
• "A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of ..."
• "A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people. "
• "A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good ..."
• "A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does not help to solve ..."
• "A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can ..."
• "A vow is a purely religious act which cannot be taken in a fit of ..."
• "Action expresses priorities. "
• "Action is no less necessary than thought to the instinctive tendencies of the human frame. "
• "Adaptability is not imitation. It means power of resistance and assimilation. "
• "All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and ..."
• "All the religions of the world, while they may differ in other respects, unitedly proclaim ..."
• "Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying ..."
• "Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the ..."
• "An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become ..."
• "An eye for an eye makes us all blind. "
• "An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind. "
• "An opponent is entitled to the same regard for his principles as we would expect ..."
• "An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching. "
• "An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more ..."
• "Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding. "
• "Are creeds such simple things like the clothes which a man can change at will ..."
• "As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the ..."
• "Be the change that you want to see in the world. "
• "Before the throne of the Almighty, man will be judged not by his acts but ..."
• "Better far than cowardice is killing and being killed in battle. "
• "Between husband and wife there should be no secrets from one another. I have a ..."
• "Birth and death are not two different states, but they are different aspects of the ..."
• "Breach of promise is a base surrender of truth. "
• "But for my faith in God, I should have been a raving maniac. "
• "Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital ..."
• "Commonsense is the realised sense of proportion. "
• "Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the ..."
• "Consciously or unconsciously, everyone of us does render some service or another. If we cultivate ..."
• "Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain ..."
• "Culture of the mind must be subservient to the heart. "
• "Democracy must in essence, therefore, mean the art and science of mobilising the entire physical, ..."
• "Destruction is not the law of humans. Man lives freely only by his readiness to ..."
• "Don't listen to friends when the Friend inside you says 'Do this.' "
• "Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must ..."
• "Each one prays to God according to his own light. "
• "Even as wisdom often comes from the mouths of babes, so does it often come ..."
• "Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth. "
• "Every formula of every religion has in this age of reason, to submit to the ..."
• "Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just ..."
• "Everyone has faith in God though everyone does not know it. For everyone has faith ..."
• "Everyone who wills can hear the inner voice. It is within everyone. "
• "Evil is, good or truth misplaced. "
• "Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into. "
• "Faith... must be enforced by reason... when faith becomes blind it dies. "
• "Far more indispensable then food for the physical body is spiritual nourishment for the soul. ..."
• "Fear has its use but cowardice has none. "
• "Fear of death makes us devoid both of valour and religion. For want of valour ..."
• "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you ..."
• "For me every ruler is alien that defies public opinion. "
• "Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would ..."
• "Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. "
• "Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion. "
• "Glory lies in the attempt to reach one's goal and not in reaching it. "
• "God is, even though the whole world deny him. Truth stands, even if there be ..."
• "God sometimes does try to the uttermost those whom he wishes to bless. "
• "God, as Truth, has been for me a treasure beyond price. May He be so ..."
• "Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in ..."
• "Hatred ever kills, love never dies such is the vast difference between the two. What ..."
• "Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress. "
• "Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress. "
• "Human society is a ceaseless growth, an unfoldment in terms of spirituality. "
• "I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood ..."
• "I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared ..."
• "I believe in equality for everyone, except reporters and photographers. "
• "I believe in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the world. "
• "I believe that a man is the strongest soldier for daring to die unarmed. "
• "I claim that human mind or human society is not divided into watertight compartments called ..."
• "I claim that in losing the spinning wheel we lost our left lung. We are, ..."
• "I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. ..."
• "I claim to be an average man of less than average ability. I have not ..."
• "I claim to be no more than an average person with less than average ability. ..."
• "I do not want any patronage, as I do not give any. I am a ..."
• "I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my ..."
• "I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of ..."

• "I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is ..."
• "I have found by experience that man makes his plans to be often upset by ..."
• "I have learned through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and ..."
• "I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve ..."
• "I have worshipped woman as the living embodiment of the spirit of service and sacrifice. "
• "I know, to banish anger altogether from one's breast is a difficult task. It cannot ..."
• "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike ..."
• "I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won't ..."
• "I may live without air and water, but not without Him. You may pluck out ..."
• "I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only ..."
• "I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal to reason and is in conflict ..."
• "I saw that nations like individuals could only be made through the agony of the ..."
• "I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with ..."
• "I want to see India free in my life-time. But God may not consider me ..."
• "I will far rather see the race of man extinct than that we should become ..."
• "I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am ..."
• "I would heartily welcome the union of East and West provided it is not based ..."
• "If co-operation is a duty, I hold that non-co-operation also under certain conditions is equally ..."
• "If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide. "
• "If I seem to take part in politics, it is only because politics encircles us ..."
• "If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time. And a ..."
• "If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to ..."
• "Imitation is the sincerest flattery. "
• "In a gentle way, you can shake the world. "
• "In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place. "
• "In nature there is fundamental unity running through all the diversity we see about us. ..."
• "In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a ..."
• "In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and ..."
• "Increase of material comforts, it may be generally laid down, does not in any way ..."
• "Indeed one's faith in one's plans and methods is truly tested when the horizon before ..."
• "Indolence is a delightful but distressing state; we must be doing something to be happy. ..."
• "Infinite striving to be the best is man's duty; it is its own reward. Everything ..."
• "Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man ..."
• "Intolerance betrays want of faith in one's cause. "
• "Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a ..."
• "Is it not enough to know the evil to shun it? If not, we should ..."
• "It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by ..."
• "It is any day better to stand erect with a broken and bandaged head then ..."
• "It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to ..."
• "It is easy enough to be friendly to one's friends. But to befriend the one ..."
• "It is easy enough to say, 'I do not believe in God.' For God permits ..."
• "It is foolish to think that by fleeing one can trick the dread god of ..."
• "It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may. We ..."
• "It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver. "
• "It is my own firm belief that the strength of the soul grows in proportion ..."
• "It is the law of love that rules mankind. Had violence, i.e. hate, ruled us ..."
• "It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity. "
• "It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to ..."
• "It would conduce to national progress and save a great deal of time and trouble ..."
• "Just as a man would not cherish living in a body other than his own, ..."
• "Justice that love gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment. "
• "Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something ..."
• "Let no one charge me with ever having abused or encouraged weakness or surrendered on ..."
• "Let us all be brave enough to die the death of a martyr, but let ..."
• "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live ..."
• "Love never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents never revenges itself. "
• "Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of ..."
• "Man can never be a woman's equal in the spirit of selfless service with which ..."
• "Man falls from the pursuit of the ideal of plan living and high thinking the ..."
• "Man lives freely only by his readiness to die, if need be, at the hands ..."
• "Man should forget his anger before he lies down to sleep. "
• "Man's nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been know to yield to the ..."
• "Manliness consists in making circumstances subserve to ourselves. "
• "Measures must always in a progressive society be held superior to men, who are after ..."
• "Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do ..."
• "Moral authority is never retained by any attempt to hold on to it. It comes ..."
• "Morality is the basis of things and truth is the substance of all morality. "
• "Morality which depends upon the helplessness of a man or woman has not much to ..."
• "Must I do all the evil I can before I learn to shun it? Is ..."
• "My life is my message. "
• "My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the ..."
• "Nearly everything you do is of no importance, but it is important that you do ..."
• "No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive. "
• "No religion which is narrow and which cannot satisfy the test of reason, will survive ..."
• "No sacrifice is worth the name unless it is a joy. Sacrifice and a long ..."
• "Nobody can hurt me without my permission. "
• "Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good. "
• "Non-violence and truth are inseparable and presuppose one another. "
• "Non-violence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat ..."
• "Non-violence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat ..."
• "Non-violence is the article of faith. "
• "Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the ..."
• "Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man. "

• "Non-violence, which is the quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the ..."
• "One's own religion is after all a matter between oneself and one's Maker and no ..."
• "Only he can take great resolves who has indomitable faith in God and has fear ..."
• "Peace is its own reward. "
• "Poverty is the worst form of violence. "
• "Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the ..."
• "Prayer is a confession of one's own unworthiness and weakness. "
• "Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the ..."
• "Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission ..."
• "Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening. "
• "Providence has its appointed hour for everything. We cannot command results, we can only strive. "
• "Purity of personal life is the one indispensable condition for building up a sound education. "
• "Religion is a matter of the heart. No physical inconvenience can warrant abandonment of one's ..."
• "Religion is more than life. Remember that his own religion is the truest to every ..."
• "Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory. "
• "Self-respect knows no considerations. "
• "Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all ..."
• "Spiritual relationship is far more precious than physical. Physical relationship divorced from spiritual is body ..."
• "Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. "
• "Suffering cheerfully endured, ceases to be suffering and is transmuted into an ineffable joy. "
• "Suffering has its well-defined limits. Suffering can be both wise and unwise, and when the ..."
• "Surely conversion is a matter between man and his Maker who alone knows his creatures' ..."
• "That service is the noblest which is rendered for its own sake. "
• "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. "
• "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice ..."
• "The essence of all religions is one. Only their approaches are different. "
• "The good man is the friend of all living things. "
• "The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated. "
• "The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still small ..."
• "The law an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. "
• "The law of sacrifice is uniform throughout the world. To be effective it demands the ..."
• "The main purpose of life is to live rightly, think rightly, act rightly. The soul ..."
• "The moment there is suspicion about a person's motives, everything he does becomes tainted. "
• "The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within. "
• "The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one's opponent. "
• "The real ornament of woman is her character, her purity. "
• "The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of ..."
• "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. "
• "The world is touched by sacrifice. It does not then discriminate about the merits of ..."
• "There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except ..."
• "There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of ..."
• "There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed. "
• "There is more to life than increasing its speed. "
• "There is no one without faults, not even men of God. They are men of ..."
• "There is no principle worth the name if it is not wholly good. "
• "There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith ..."
• "There should be truth in thought, truth in speech, and truth in action. To the ..."
• "Those who know how to think need no teachers. "
• "Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion ..."
• "Though we may know Him by a thousand names, He is one and the same ..."
• "To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest. "
• "To forgive is not to forget. The merit lies in loving in spite of the ..."
• "To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a ..."
• "To me art in order to be truly great must, like the beauty of Nature, ..."
• "Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that ..."
• "Truth never damages a cause that is just. "
• "Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained. "
• "Unwearied ceaseless effort is the price that must be paid for turning faith into a ..."
• "Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. "
• "Violent means will give violent freedom. That would be a menace to the world and ..."
• "Violent men have not been known in history to die to a man. They die ..."
• "We do not need to proselytise either by our speech or by our writing. We ..."
• "We may have our private opinions but why should they be a bar to the ..."
• "We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. ..."
• "We must become the change we want to see in the world. "
• "We should meet abuse by forbearance. Human nature is so constituted that if we take ..."
• "We win justice quickest by rendering justice to the other party. "
• "What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the ..."
• "What do I think of Western civilization? I think it would be a very good ..."
• "What is true of the individual will be to-morrow true of the whole nation if ..."
• "Whatever you do may seem insignificant to you, but it is most important that you ..."
• "When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my ..."
• "When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love ..."
• "When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible. "
• "Where love is, there God is also. "
• "Where there is love there is life. "
• "Woman is the companion of man, gifted with equal mental capacities. She has the right ..."
• "You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but ..."
• "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop ..."
• "You must be the change you wish to see in the world. "
• "You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops ..."