Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948)

Mahatma Gandhi is the number one Utopian Hero. He preached non-violent activism. He turned the other cheek. He sacrificed by spending many years in jail, by being poor, and by fasting. He became the inspiration for other peaceful reform. He changed nations for the better. Humanity owes him. Feel free to be inspired and motivated by his quotes which follow.

Mahatma Gandhi
A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.

Adaptability is not imitation. It means power of resistance and assimilation.

Affection cannot be manufactured or regulated by law. If one has no affection for a person or a system, one should be free to give the fullest expression to his disaffection, so long as he does not contemplate, promote, or incite to violence.

An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err. It passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right.

Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress.

I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill.

I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life.

I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

If you don’t find God in the next person you meet, it is a waste of time looking for him further.
In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place.

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 be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

Live simply that others may simply live.

No cost is too heavy for the preservation of one’s honor.

Non-violence does not signify that man must not fight against the enemy, and by enemy is meant the evil which men do, not the human beings themselves.

One needs to be slow to form convictions, but once formed they must be defended against the heaviest odds.

Where there is love there is life.

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

The good man is the friend of all living things.

The only devils in this world are those running around in our own hearts, and that is where all our battles should be fought.

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

There is more to life than increasing its speed

To conceal ignorance is to increase it. An honest confession of it, however, gives ground for the hope that it will diminish some day or the other.

Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.

We must become the change we want to see.

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.

When asked what he thought of Western civilization: “I think it would be a good idea”.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it–always.

You must be the change you want to see in the world.

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

Your beliefs become your thoughts. Your thoughts become your words. Your words become your actions. Your actions become your habits. Your habits become your values. Your values become your destiny.

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