Mahatma Gandhi Quotes
Gandhi's writings fill the 100 volumes of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, and every quote below can be found in his newspapers Young India, Harijan and Indian Opinion. Some of his best-known “quotes” cannot.
4 real Mahatma Gandhi quotes, with sources
“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.”Mahatma Gandhi — Indian Opinion, 9 August 1913 (Collected Works vol. 12) — the real source of “Be the change”
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”Mahatma Gandhi — Statement to the press, Karachi, 23 March 1931; Young India, 2 April 1931
“Truth never damages a cause that is just.”Mahatma Gandhi — Harijan, 9 December 1939 (Collected Works vol. 70)
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”Mahatma Gandhi — “The Doctrine of the Sword”, Young India, 11 August 1920
Famous quotes Mahatma Gandhi never said
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”No record of Gandhi saying this. It is a modern compression of a 1913 passage in Indian Opinion, quoted above: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.”
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”An older proverb, attributed long before Gandhi to Isidore of Seville, St Edmund Rich and others.
“An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.”Written for the 1982 film Gandhi by screenwriter John Briley; there is no record of Gandhi saying it.
Who was Mahatma Gandhi?
A London-trained lawyer, Gandhi led India's independence movement through nonviolent resistance. His Salt March of 1930, a 240-mile walk to the sea, showed how moral courage could move an empire. He was assassinated in January 1948, months after independence. Read more on Wikipedia.
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What is Mahatma Gandhi's most famous quote?
One of the best known is “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” (Statement to the press, Karachi, 23 March 1931; Young India, 2 April 1931)
Did Mahatma Gandhi really say “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”?
No. No record of Gandhi saying this. It is a modern compression of a 1913 passage in Indian Opinion, quoted above: “If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.”
Did Mahatma Gandhi really say “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”?
No. An older proverb, attributed long before Gandhi to Isidore of Seville, St Edmund Rich and others.
Did Mahatma Gandhi really say “An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind.”?
No. Written for the 1982 film Gandhi by screenwriter John Briley; there is no record of Gandhi saying it.
Where do these Mahatma Gandhi quotes come from?
Gandhi's writings fill the 100 volumes of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, and every quote below can be found in his newspapers Young India, Harijan and Indian Opinion. Some of his best-known “quotes” cannot.
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