New Delhi: On January 30, India will mark the death anniversary, or Martyrs' Day, of Mahatma Gandhi, the most prominent leader in India's independence movement. He organised peasants and labourers to protest against excessive land-tax and discrimination. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Mahatma Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for various social causes and for achieving Swaraj or self-rule. Here are 10 inspiring quotes for you to read and remember the 'Father of the Nation' on Martyrs' Day:
On Patriotism: My patriotism is not an exclusive thing. It is all embracing and I should reject that patriotism which sought to mount upon the distress or exploitation of other nationalities.
On Truth: Truth is like a vast tree which yields more and more fruit the more you nurture it. Truth alone will endure, all the rest will swept away before the tide of time
On Unity: Unity among the difference races and the different communities belonging to different religions of India is indispensable to the birth of national life.
On Death: Death is at any time blessed, but it is twice blessed for a warrior who dies for his cause, that is, truth. Death is no fiend, he is the truest of friends. He delivers us from agony.
On Defeat: Heroes are made in the hour of defeat. Success is, therefore, well described as a series of glorious defeats.
On Non-violence: Ahimsa is the highest duty. Even if we cannot practice it in full, we must try to understand its spirit and refrain as far as is humanly possible from violence.
On Democracy: Democracy necessarily means a conflict of will and ideas, involving sometimes a war to the knife between different ideas.
On Forgiveness: Forgiveness is the quality of the brave, not of the cowardly. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
On Freedom: Freedom of a nation cannot be won by solitary acts of heroism though they may be of the true type, never by heroism so called.
On Independence: India will not be a helpless partner in her own exploitation and foreign domination.