"Democracy must in essence, therefore, mean the art and science of mobilising the entire physical, economic and spiritual resources of all the various sections of the people in the service of the common good of all."

Rating:

  rate this quote
Topic: none  help us select a topic for this quote

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 principle is the expression of perfection, and as imperfect beings like us cannot practise ..."
• "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. "
• "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 ..."