Satyagraha Quotations

Violence is a concession to human weakness, satyagraha is an obligation.

Satyagraha is a relentless search for truth and a determination to search truth.

Satyagraha is an attribute of the spirit within.

Satyagraha has been designed as an effective substitute for violence.

The satyagrahi general has to obey his inner voice, for over and above the situation outside he examines himself constantly and listens to the dictates of the inner self.

Satyagraha, of which civil resistance is but a part, is to me the universal law of life.

Satyagraha is itself an unmistakable mute prayer of an agonized soul.

Satyagraha and civil disobedience and fasts have nothing in common with the use of force, veiled or open.

Satyagraha is a purely spiritual weapon.

Satyagraha thrives on repression till at last the repressor is tired of it and the object of satyagraha is gained.

In satyagraha, a courted imprisonment carries its own praise.

Satyagraha does not depend on outside help, it derives all its strength from within.

My purpose is to describe experiments in the science ofsatyagraha and not at all to describe how good I am.

The method of satyagraha requires that the satyagrahi should never lose hope, so long as there is the slightest ground left for it.

Satyagraha as conceived by me is a science in the making.

It is claimed for satyagraha that it is a complete substitute for violence or war.

For a satyagrahi brigade only those are eligible who believe in ahimsa and satya.

Satyagraha is a force that has come to stay. No force in the world can kill it.

Satyagraha does not begin and end with civil disobedience.

I regard the constituent assembly as the substitute ofsatyagraha. It is constructive satyagraha.

Without satyagraha carried out in the proper spirit, there is no victory, no Swaraj.

Force that the performance of duty naturally generates is the non-violent and invincible force that satyagraha brings into being.

Not those who shout 'satyagraha', 'satyagraha' will do satyagraha, but those who will work for it.

My satyagrahi spirit tells me that I may not retaliate.

A satyagrahi has infinite patience, abundant faith in others, and ample hope.

A satyagrahi has no other stay but God, and he who has any other stay or depends on any other help cannot offer satyagraha.

A satyagrahi cannot go to law for a personal wrong.

A satyagrahi loves his so-called enemy even as he loves his friend. He has no enemy.

A satyagrahi has always his minimum and it is this minimum that is wanted in connection with this struggle.

There is no time limit for a satyagrahi nor is there a limit to his capacity for suffering.

A satyagrahi is dead to his body even before the enemy attempts to kill him.

A satyagrahi would neither retaliate nor would he submit to the criminal, but seek to cure him by curing himself.

To die without killing is the badge of a satyagrahi.

A satyagrahi is nothing if not instinctively law-abiding.

A satyagrahi exhausts all other means before he resorts to satyagraha.

A satyagrahi, whilst he is ever ready to fight, must be equally eager for peace.

In the code of the satyagrahi, there is no such thing as surrender to brute force.

A satyagrahi lays down his life, but never gives up. That is the meaning of the 'do or die' slogan.

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind.

In the dictionary of satyagraha, there is no enemy.

There is no "playing with truth" in the Charkha programme, for satyagraha is not predominantly civil disobedience but a quiet and irresistible pursuit of Truth.

There is a vital connection between satyagraha and charkha, and the more I find that belief challenged, the more I am confirmed in it.

Satyagraha is search for Truth, and God is Truth.