“A person who believes in fighting and does not regard it as violence, though it is violence, is here being asked to kill.”

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

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

“Joy lies in the fight, in the attempt, in the suffering involved, not in the victory itself”

“True beauty lies in purity of the heart.”

“Children inherit the qualities of the parents, no less than their physical features. Environment does play an important part, but the original capital on which a child starts in life is inherited from its ancestors. I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul. Polak and I had often very heated discussions about the desirability or otherwise of giving the children an English education. It has always been my conviction that Indian parents who train their children to think and talk in English from their infancy betray their children and their country. They deprive them of the spiritual and social heritage of the nation, and render them to that extent unfit for the service of the country. Having these convictions, I made a point of always talking to my children in Gujarati. Polak never liked this. He thought I was spoiling their future. He contended, with all the vigour and love at his command, that, if children were to learn a universal language like English from their infancy, they would easily gain considerable advantage over others in the race of life. He failed to convince me. I do not now remember whether I convinced him of the correctness of my attitude, or whether he gave me up as too obstinate. This happened about twenty years ago, and my convictions have only deepened with experience. Though my sons have suffered for want of full literary education, the knowledge of the mother-tongue that they naturally acquired has been all to their and the country’s good, inasmuch as they do not appear the foreigners they would otherwise have appeared. They naturally became bilingual, speaking and writing English with fair ease, because of daily contact with a large circle of English friends, and because of their stay in a country where English was the chief language spoken.”

“But you can wake a man only if he is really asleep. No effort that you make will produce any effect upon him if he is merely pretending sleep.”

“There are only two ways to live your life: as though nothing is a miracle, or as though everything is a miracle.”

“shall be able to kindle the same in you. But one cannot light a piece of stone. Only those of you who have some oil and wick in them will light their lamp with this matchstick of mine.”

“Man is not at peace with himself till he has become like unto God. The endeavour to reach this state is the supreme, the only ambition worth having. And this is self-realization.”

“had read the laws, but not learnt how to practise law.”

“Anger and intolerance are the twin enemies of correct understanding.”

“Numerous examples have convinced me that God ultimately saves him whose motive is pure.”

“You can't hurt me without my permission.”

“To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”