India is paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi on his 148th birth anniversary on Monday.
Here are a 10 quotes by Gandhi that hold relevance even today:
On cow slaughter:
“How can I force anyone not to slaughter cows unless he is himself so disposed? It is not as if there were only Hindus in the Indian Union. There are Muslims, Parsis, Christians and other religious groups here.”
On intolerance:
“Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.”
“Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.”
On use of power:
“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 then the one derived from fear of punishment.”
On non-violence:
“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.”
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
{{/usCountry}}“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
{{/usCountry}}On sexual violence:
“I will far rather see the race of man extinct than that we should become less than beasts by making the noblest of God’s creation, woman, the object of our lust.”
On the West:
“A time is coming when those who are in the mad rush today of multiplying their wants, will retrace their steps and say: what have we done”
On animal cruelty:
“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
On education:
An education which does not teach us to discriminate between good and bad, to assimilate the one and eschew the other, is a misnomer.
On caste and discrimination:
“It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow-beings.”
On revolutions:
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”