Mahatma Gandhi: You Must Not Lose Faith In Humanity

Quotes from Mahatma Gandhi —

Much Needed Wisdom for Our Times

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Truth resides in every human heart, and one has to search for it there, and to be guided by truth as one sees it. But no one has a right to coerce others to act according to his own view of truth. 

 

Permanent good can never be the outcome of untruth and violence.

 

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

 

You assist an administration most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil administration never deserves such allegiance. Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil. A good man will therefore resist an evil system or administration with his whole soul. 

 

Hate the sin, love the sinner.

 

Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state has become lawless or corrupt. And a citizen who barters with such a state shares in its corruption and lawlessness.

 

The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but, it is fear. 

 

A man is but a product of his thoughts. What he thinks he becomes.

 

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

 

Many people, especially ignorant people, want to punish you for speaking the truth, for being correct, for being you. Never apologize for being correct, or for being years ahead of your time. If you’re right and you know it, speak your mind. Speak your mind. Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is still the truth.

 

Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear. 

 

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.   

 

Truth without humility would be an arrogant caricature.  

 

Carefully watch your thoughts, for they become your words. Manage and watch your words, for they will become your actions. Consider and judge your actions, for they have become your habits. Acknowledge and watch your habits, for they shall become your values. Understand and embrace your values, for they become your destiny.  

 

It’s the action, not the fruit of the 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.   

 

Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment.

  

Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. 

 

In the midst of darkness, light persists. 

What is really needed to make democracy function is not knowledge of facts, but right education. 

Education is the basic tool for the development of consciousness and the reconstitution of society.

There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supercedes all other courts.

A ‘No’ uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble. 

Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.

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

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems. 

The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members. 

Our greatest ability as humans is not to change the world; but to change ourselves.

If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. We need not wait to see what others do. 

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

An ounce of practice is worth a thousand words.

Glory lies in the attempt to reach one’s goal and not in reaching it.

Where there is love there is life.

What barrier is there that love cannot break?   

The greatness of humanity is not in being human, but in being humane.

Compassion is a muscle that gets stronger with use. 

Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.

The future depends on what you do today.   

Your action expresses your priorities. 

The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful then a thousand heads bowing in prayer. 

In a gentle way you can shake the world.

There is force in the universe, which, if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results.

Let your life be the message.