Top 100 Gandhi Quotes for Your Gandhi Jayanti Speech

Gandhi Jayanti is a national festival in India observed on October 2nd to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, one of the most influential leaders of the Indian independence movement.

Here are 100 of the most inspiring and thought-provoking quotes from Mahatma Gandhi to include in your Gandhi Jayanti speech:

On Non-Violence and Peace:

1. “Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind.”
2. “There is no path to peace. Peace is the path.”
3. “Non-violence is not a garment to be put on and off at will.”
4. “Ahimsa is the highest ideal. It is meant for the brave, never for the cowardly.”
5. “Non-violence is an active force of the highest order.”
6. “Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good.”
7. “Victory attained by violence is tantamount to defeat, for it is momentary.”
8. “Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it peacefully.”
9. “Non-violence is the law of our species as violence is the law of the brute.”
10. “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”

On unity:

1. “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
2. “We must become the change we want to see in the world.”
3. “Unity in diversity is the essence of Indian culture.”

On Truth and Honesty:

1. “Truth stands, even if there be no public support. It is self-sustained.”
2. “Truth never damages a cause that is just.”
3. “Truth is by nature self-evident. As soon as you remove the cobwebs of ignorance that surround it, it shines clear.”
4. “The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one’s opponent.”
5. “Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.”
6. “An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.”
7. “The truth is one; paths are many.”
8. “Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.”
9. “Truth without humility would be an arrogant caricature.”
10. “To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”

On Service and Humanity:

1. “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
2. “Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served.”
3. “Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.”
4. “The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”
5. “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
6. “A life of sacrifice is the pinnacle of art, and is full of true joy.”
7. “Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love.”
8. “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realizing Him.”
9. “To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.”
10. “A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave.”

On Courage and Determination:

1. “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
2. “You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results.”
3. “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
4. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
5. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
6. “An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”
7. “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”
8. “To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”
9. “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”
10. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.”

On Education and Knowledge:

1. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
2. “Literacy in itself is no education. Literacy is not the end of education or even the beginning.”
3. “By education, I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in child and man—body, mind, and spirit.”
4. “Real education consists in drawing the best out of yourself. What better book can there be than the book of humanity?”
5. “Education which does not mold character is absolutely worthless.”
6. “True education must correspond to the surrounding circumstances or it is not a healthy growth.”
7. “The object of basic education is the physical, intellectual, and moral development of children through the medium of handicraft.”
8. “An education that is not humane is a poor sort of education.”
9. “Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is.”
10. “The goal of education is the advancement of knowledge and the dissemination of truth.”

On Self-Discipline and Simplicity:

1. “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”
2. “Simplicity is the essence of universality.”
3. “A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”
4. “In doing something, do it with love or never do it at all.”
5. “Action expresses priorities.”
6. “There is more to life than increasing its speed.”
7. “It is the quality of our work which will please God and not the quantity.”
8. “The less you possess, the less you want, the better you are.”
9. “To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil is to forget ourselves.”
10. “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.”

On Politics and Social Justice:

1. “The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires change of heart.”
2. “An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.”
3. “A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.”
4. “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles, but today it means getting along with people.”
5. “Democracy must in essence mean the art and science of mobilizing the entire physical, economic, and spiritual resources of all the various sections of the people in the service of the common good of all.”
6. “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.”
7. “To safeguard democracy, the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect, and their oneness.”
8. “Civilization is the encouragement of differences.”
9. “The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”
10. “The real ornament of a woman is her character, her purity.”

On Faith and Spirituality:

1. “God has no religion.”
2. “Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.”
3. “If we want to reach real peace in this world, we should start educating children.”
4. “I call him religious who understands the suffering of others.”
5. “There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts.”
6. “The essence of all religions is one. Only their approaches are different.”
7. “Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the evening.”
8. “The seeker after truth should be humbler than the dust.”
9. “The future depends on what we do in the present.”
10. “Where there is love, there is life.”

On Freedom and Independence:

1. “Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life.”
2. “Self-rule is my birthright and I shall have it.”
3. “A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”
4. “Let us all be brave enough to die the death of a martyr, but let no one lust for martyrdom.”
5. “I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.”
6. “No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive.”
7. “To deprive a man of his natural liberty and to deny to him the ordinary amenities of life is worse than starving the body.”
8. “No man loses his freedom except through his own weakness.”
9. “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
10. “The spirit of democracy cannot be imposed from without. It has to come from within.”