“I realised that in refusing to take a vow man was drawn into temptation, and that to be bound by a vow was like a passage from libertinism to a real monogamous marriage. “I believe in effort, I do not want to bind myself with vows,” is the mentality of weakness and betrays a subtle desire for the thing to be avoided. Or where can be the difficulty in making a final decision? I vow to flee from the serpent which I know will bite me, I do not simply make an effort to flee from him. I know that mere effort may mean certain death. Mere effort means ignorance of the certain fact that the serpent is bound to kill me. The fact, therefore, that I could rest content with an effort only, means that I have not yet clearly realised the necessity of definite action. “But supposing my views are changed in the future, how can I bind myself by a vow?” Such a doubt often deters us. But that doubt also betrays a lack of clear perception that a particular thing must be renounced.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“If I had no sense of humor, I would long ago have committed suicide.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“When the fear of jail disappears, repression puts heart into the people.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“Our contribution to the progress of the world must, therefore, consist in setting our own house in order.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“Behaviour is the mirror in which we can display our image.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“They cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“There is no such thing as ‘too insane’ unless others turn up dead due to your actions.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“One thing we have endeavoured to observe most scrupulously, namely, never to depart from the strictest facts and, in dealing with the difficult questions that have arisen during the year, we hope that we have used the utmost moderation possible under the circumstances.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful then a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“If physical fasting is not accompanied by mental fasting it is bound to end in hypocrisy and disaster.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“A reformer cannot afford to have close intimacy with him whom he seeks to reform. True friendship is an identity of souls rarely to be found in this world.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“Disease increases in proportion to the increase in the number of doctors in a place.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“We must be ever courteous and patient with those who do not see eye to eye with us. We must resolutely refuse to consider our opponents as enemies.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
