Quotes to inspire and reflect

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

Terrorism and deception are weapons not of the strong, but of the weak.

Speak only if it improves upon the silence.

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

Service that is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures as possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy.

Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment; full effort is full victory.

Rights that do not flow from duty well performed are not worth having.

Purity of mind and idleness are incompatible.

Power is of two kinds: One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent than the one derived from fear of punishment.

Poverty is the worst form of violence.

Personally, I hold that a man who deliberately and intelligently takes a pledge and then breaks it, forfeits his manhood.

Peace is its own reward.

Non-violence is the article of faith.

Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.

No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive.

Non-co-operation with evil is as much a duty as is co-operation with good.

Nobody can hurt me without my permission.

Never has man reached his destination by persistence in deviation from the straight path.

Morality is the basis of things and truth is the substance of all morality.

Morality is contraband in war.

Monotony is the law of nature. Look at the monotonous manner in which the sun rises. The monotony of necessary occupation is exhilarating and life-giving.

Moral authority is never retained by any attempt to hold on to it. It comes without seeking and is retained without effort.

Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow men.

Man’s happiness really lies in contentment.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Love never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents, never revenges itself.

Just as the body cannot exist without blood, so the soul needs the matchless and pure strength of faith.

Just as a man would not cherish living in a body other than his own, so do nations not like to live under other nations, however noble and great the latter may be.

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

I will not let anyone walk through my mind with dirty feet.

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.

It is the action, not the fruit of action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.

It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends, but to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.

It is easy to stand in the crowd, but it takes courage to stand alone.

I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles, but today it means getting along with people.

It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.

I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal to reason and is in conflict with morality.

Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.

Intolerance betrays want of faith in one’s cause.

Interdependence is, and ought to be, as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being.

In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.

In prayer, it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.

Infinite striving to be the best is man’s duty; it is its own reward.

In a gentle way, you can shake the world.

I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.

If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.

If one has no affection for a person or a system, one should feel free to give the fullest expression to this disaffection so long as one does not contemplate, promote, or incite violence.

If patience is worth anything, it must endure to the end of time.