“Renunciation without aversion is not lasting.”

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.”

“Renunciation of objects, without the renunciation of desires, is short-lived, however hard you may try.”

“My difficulties lay deeper. It was more than I could believe that Jesus was the only incarnate son of God, and that only he who believed in him would have everlasting life. If God could have sons, all of us were His sons. If Jesus was like God, or God Himself, then all men were like God and could be God Himself. My reason was not ready to believe literally that Jesus by his death and by his blood redeemed the sins of the world. Metaphorically there might be some truth in it. Again, according to Christianity only human beings had souls, and not other living beings, for whom death meant complete extinction; while I held a contrary belief. I could accept Jesus as a martyr, an embodiment of sacrifice, and a divine teacher, but not as the most perfect man ever born. His death on the Cross was a great example to the world, but that there was anything like a mysterious or miraculous virtue in it my heart could not accept. The pious lives of Christians did not give me anything that the lives of men of other faiths had failed to give. I had seen in other lives just the same reformation that I had heard of among Christians. Philosophically there was nothing extraordinary in Christian principles. From the point of view of sacrifice, it seemed to me that the Hindus greatly surpassed the Christians. It was impossible for me to regard Christianity as a perfect religion or the greatest of all religions.”

“An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.”

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

“There are some actions from which an escape is a godsend both for the man who escapes and for those about him. Man, as soon as he gets back his consciousness of right, is thankful to the Divine mercy for the escape.”

“There is no such thing as ‘too insane’ unless others turn up dead due to your actions.”

“You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” 

“Sacrifice is joy.”

“Effort is within man’s control, not the fruit thereof.”

“But all my life through, the very insistence on truth has taught me to appreciate the beauty of compromise.”

“to believe in something and not live it is dishonest.”

“Poqerty is the worst form of violence”

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”