Quotations of Mahatma Gandhi

1996-2009 Roedy Green, Canadian Mind Products
This collection of quotations is copyrighted as a whole, but of course individual quotations are not.
Mahatma Gandhi (born: 1869-10-02 died: 1948-01-30 at age: 78) lead India to independence using non-violent means. Indians refer to him as Mahatma Gandhi which means great soul. Martin Luther King later used these same techniques to fight for black civil rights in the USA.
I have always felt a special kinship with Gandhi. He was assassinated on 1948-01-30 by a Hindu fanatic. As he was dying he blessed his assassin. I was born five days later, just missing any chance to even hear him on the radio. Gandhi inspired Martin Luther King. And King in turn inspired me in my work with gay liberation in the 1970s. When I started, 95% of the gays were against me and 100% of the straights. I figured it was pointless, but I wanted to make a token gesture of defiance anyway. In only two years we had the first gay rights legislation.
When I went to India in 1985 I met Gandhi’s godson, a wealthy industrialist who owned a automobile, washing machine,… manufacturing company called Tata He told me what it was like as a boy living with Gandhi. Later he let me spend an afternoon in his private museum of Gandhi memorabilia. On that trip a woman gave me an uncopyrighted little book called Quotes of Gandhi. Here I share with you from that book and other sources.
I find Gandhi’s and King’s obsession with God somewhat embarrassing. However, that belief was central to their thinking, so I don’t censor it here.