Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi

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  • I believe that there is no prayer without fasting and there is no real fast without prayer.

    "Its Implications, Harijan, February 11, 1933", CWMG, vol. LIII, p. 259.
  • Death was a companion and friend. It was well with those who had died bravely.

    Harijan, April 20, 1947.
  • It will be time enough to pronounce a verdict upon my work after my eyes are closed and this tabernacle is consigned to the flames.

    "Speech at Public Meeting, Rangoon, Young India, April 4, 1929", CWMG vol. 40, p. 110.
  • Thus, though we find the young and the old, the rich and the poor, all passing away before our very eyes, we do not want to sit in peace; rather for the sake of living a few days more, we try everything except Rama.

    January 1, 1945, CWMG, vol. LXXIX, p. 425.
  • How nice it would be if having realized this truth, we relied on Rama, put up with whatever ailments came our way and made our lives peaceful.

    January 2, 1945, CWMG, vol. LXXIX, p. 425.
  • We saw the corporeal Mahadev2 in his physical body and in his writings—which was one and the same thing. The Mahadev, who transcends the body is, however, all-pervading. He can be recognized by his virtues which we can all share alike. No one can have a greater or smaller share.

    January 3, 1945, CWMG, vol. LXXIX, p. 425.
  • Are not birth and death perhaps the two sides of the same coin? You find death on the one side and birth on the other. Why should this give rise to sorrow or joy?

    January 4, 1945, CWMG, vol. LXXIX, p. 425.
  • If this be true of birth and death as it certainly is, then why should we fear death even in the slightest degree or sorrow over it and rejoice in a birth? Every man should ask himself this question.

    January 5, 1945, CWMG, vol. LXXIX, p. 425.
  • The world is full of opposites. There is sorrow behind happiness, and happiness behind sorrow. Where there is sunshine,there is also shadow; where there is light, there is also darkness; where there is birth, there is also death. Non-attachment lies in remaining unaffected by these opposites. The way to triumph over them is not to efface them, but to rise above them and be completely free from attachment.

    "January 6, 1945", CWMG, vol. LXXIX, p. 425,426.
  • The foregoing shows that the key to happiness lies in the worship of Truth, which is the giver of all things.

    January 7, 1945, CWMG, vol. LXXIX, p. 426.
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