Indira Gandhi Quotes, Status, and Thoughts

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

I certainly won't have an empty life!

Sometimes we hurt one another without realizing it.

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

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

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

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

Dacca is now the free capital of a free country.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Defeats are always pitiful. Victories are always last resources.

We would rather starve than sell our national honor.

I learned very soon to get along by myself.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

what is popular need not necessarily be right or wise.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

To become capable, one must have faith in oneself.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

The greatest of all contraceptives is affluence.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.

Life is a continuous process of adjustment.

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

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.

I don't think my father was my mentor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm certainly not a workaholic.

Ability is not always gauged by examination.

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

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

There is not love where there is no will.

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.

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

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.

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

People tend to forget their duties but remember their rights.

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