Indira Gandhi Quotes

My father was a statesman, I am a political woman. My father was a saint. I am not.

People tend to forget their duties but remember their rights.

Winning or losing of the election is less important than strengthening the country.

We have to prove to the disinherited majority of the world that ecology and conservation will not work against their interest but will bring an improvement in their lives.

I think basically I'm lazy, but I have a housewife's mentality when I go about my job.

Have a bias toward action - let's see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.

There is not love where there is no will.

There exists no politician in India daring enough to attempt to explain to the masses that cows can be eaten.

I am not a person to be pressured - by anybody or any nation.

Ability is not always gauged by examination.

I'm certainly not a workaholic.

The power to question is the basis of all human progress.

The people have nothing to fear of me; people have never feared me.

On the one hand, the rich look askance at our continuing poverty - on the other, they warn us against their own methods.

One must beware of ministers who can do nothing without money, and those who want to do everything with money.

Wearing khadi was a badge of honour. It was something one was proud to do.

If I see something dirty or untidy, I have to clean it up.

I don't think my father was my mentor.

If I die a violent death, as some fear and a few are plotting, I know that the violence will be in the thought and the action of the assassins, not in my dying.

All my games were political games; I was, like Joan of Arc, perpetually being burned at the stake.

Life is a continuous process of adjustment.

Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.

Every new experience brings its own maturity and a greater clarity of vision.

“Nothing that is worthwhile is ever easy.” — Indira Gandhi

“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.” — Indira Gandhi

“Popularity is not a gurantee of quality.” — Indira Gandhi

Never forget that when we are silent, we are one. And when we speak we are two.

“You can’t shake hands with a clenched fist.” — Indira Gandhi

“The purpose of life is to believe, to hope, and to strive.” — Indira Gandhi

“Whenever you take a step forward, you are bound to disturb something.” — Indira Gandhi

“Peace we want because there is another war to fight against poverty, disease and ignorance.” — Indira Gandhi

“I cannot understand how anyone can be an Indian and not be proud.” — Indira Gandhi

“To be liberated, woman must feel free to be herself, not in rivalry to man but in the context of her own capacity and her personality.” — Indira Gandhi

“The immediate is often the enemy of the ultimate.” — Indira Gandhi

“Martyrdom does not end something, it only a beginning.” — Indira Gandhi

You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose.

“Rebels and non-conformists are often the pioneers and designers of change.” — Indira Gandhi

My theory is that men are no more liberated than women.

The longer one doesn’t write, the more difficult it is to communicate.”

Politics is the art of acquiring, holding, and wielding power.

I don’t mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die, every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation.

The civil servant is primarily the master of the short-term solution.

India wants to avoid a war at all costs but it is not a one-sided affair, you cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.

“Every democratic system evolves its own conventions. It is not only the water but the banks which make the river.

The greatest of all contraceptives is affluence.

It is our duty to create a social milieu in which the young and the socially weak feel that the present and future belong to them.

There are moments in history when brooding tragedy and its dark shadows can be lightened by recalling great moments of the past.

Nothing can convince me that people are at one with their work unless they’re joyous about it.

To me the function of politics is to make possible the desirable.

How can anybody who is the head of a nation afford not to be a prag-matist?

The meek may one day inherit the earth, but not the headlines.

Mankind will endure when the world appreciates the logic of diversity.

Opportunities are not offered. They must be wrested and worked for. And this calls for perseverance... and courage.

Women sometimes go too far, it's true. But it's only when you go too far that others listen.

To become capable, one must have faith in oneself.

I don't mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die, every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation.

When I was young, I was very selfish, now not any more.

The fact that I have an ideology, however, doesn't mean I'm indoctrinated.

Let's not forget that in India the symbol of strength is a woman; the goddess Shakti.

To be a mother, a housewife, never cost me any sacrifice - I savored every minute of those years.

Sometimes friends are dangerous. We must be very careful about the help friends give us.

The old need the company of the young so that they renew their contact with life.

what is popular need not necessarily be right or wise.

In all communities you find groups that behave badly. But you must understand them too.

I'm trained to difficulties; difficulties can't be eliminated from life.

I was a perfect housewife. Being a mother has always been the job I liked best. Absolutely.

I think one should do what seems right. And if what seems right involves danger...well, one must risk the danger.

I fall in love with anything I do and I always try to do it well.

There are only moments of happiness - from contentment to ecstacy.

A nation' s strength ultimately consists in what it can do on its own, and not in what it can borrow from others.

I've never understood women who, because of their children, pose as victims and don't allow themselves any other activities.

As a nation, I believe we've acquired faith in ourselves.

Life is always full of dangers and I don't think one should avoid dangers.

I learned very soon to get along by myself.

We would rather starve than sell our national honor.

Defeats are always pitiful. Victories are always last resources.

I refuse to indulge in small talk. And compliments, if at all, I save for after the job is done.

I don't see the world as something divided between right and left.

The future doesn't frighten me, even if it threatens to be full of other difficulties.

That's always been my philosophy. - I've never thought of the consequences of a necessary action.

For me the only point that has remained unchanged through the years is that in India there is still so much poverty.

We have believed - and we do believe now - that freedom is indivisible, that peace is indivisible, that economic prosperity is indivisible

Dacca is now the free capital of a free country.

in today's world no country can be absolutely independent of another. It is a world of interdependence.

In all societies that have applied a form of socialism, a certain degree of social economic equality has been achieved.

In any case, I married Feroze Gandhi. Once I get an idea in my head, no one in the world can make me change my mind.

In an underdeveloped society, the first anxiety is of infant mortality. In an advanced one it is to keep alive the aged.

Happiness is such a fleeting point of view - there's no such thing as continual happiness.

Sometimes we hurt one another without realizing it.

I certainly won't have an empty life!

I can't take it seriously when people get excited and scream that religion is in danger, and similar stupidities.

It depends on what you mean by the word religion. Certainly I don't go to temples and pray to the gods or anything like that.

It's a law of life - check it and you'll see it holds true in every situation of life.

If by religion we mean a belief in humanity rather than the gods, an effort to make man better and a little happier, then yes, I'm very religious.

I've always discovered things for myself, in marvelous freedom.

Even I, when I was a student in London, often wore Western clothes, and yet I'm the most Indian Indian I know.

I know I'll astonish everyone by talking like this, but it's God's truth. Honors have never tempted me and I've never sought them.

America always thought it was helping Pakistan. But if it hadn't helped Pakistan, Pakistan would have been a stronger country.

If by happiness you mean instead an ordinary contentment, then yes - I'm fairly contented. Not satisfied - contented.

I don't waste time in flowery small talk, as people do in India.