“I felt that it was not a historical work, but that, under the guise of physical warfare, it described the duel that perpetually went on in the hearts of mankind, and that physical warfare was brought in merely to make the description of the internal duel more alluring. This preliminary intuition became more confirmed on a closer study of religion and the Gita. A study of the Mahabharata gave it added confirmation. I do not regard the Mahabharata as a historical work in the accepted sense. The Adiparva contains powerful evidence in support of my opinion. By ascribing to the chief actors superhuman or subhuman origins, the great Vyasa made short work the history of kings and their peoples. The persons therein described may be historical, but the author of the Mahabharata has used them merely to drive home his religious theme.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“There is force in the universe, which, if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“You civilised fellows are all cowards. Great men never look at a person’s exterior. They think of his heart.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“No knowledge is to be found without seeking, no tranquility without travail, no happiness except through tribulation. Every seeker has, at one time or another, to pass through a conflict of duties, a heart-churning.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“Words like aparigraha (non-possession) and samabhava (equability) gripped me. How to cultivate and preserve that equability was the question.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“I saw that a man of truth must also be a man of care.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“All humanity is one undivided and indivisible family. I cannot detach myself from the wickedest soul.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“Nor is the Gita a collection of do’s and dont’s. What is lawful for one may be unlawful for another. What may be permissible at one time, or in one place, may not be so at another time, and in another place. Desire for fruit is the only universal prohibition. Desirelessness is obligatory.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“If you want something really important to be done you must not merely satisfy the reason, you must move the heart also.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“Experience has taught me that silence is part of the spiritual discipline of a votary of truth.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
“These unpleasant habits commonly include throwing of rubbish on the floor of the compartment, smoking at all hours and in all places, betel and tobacco chewing, converting of the whole carriage into a spittoon, shouting and yelling, and using foul language, regardless of the convenience or comfort of fellow-passengers.”
―
Mahatma Gandhi
