Indira Gandhi Quotes

My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.

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

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

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.

People tend to forget their duties but remember their rights.

Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.

The purpose of life is to believe, to hope, and to strive.

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.

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.

Whenever you take a step forward, you are bound to disturb something.

Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood... will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic.

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

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

I cannot understand how anyone can be an Indian and not be proud.

Popularity is not a gurantee of quality.

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

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

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

Ability is not always gauged by examination.

The immediate is often the enemy of the ultimate.

As I always say, I do not wish you an easy time, but I wish you that whatever difficulty you may have, you will overcome it.

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.

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.

Life is a continuous process of adjustment.

People with clenched fists can not shake hands.

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

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

Education is a liberating force, and in our age it is also a democratizing force, cutting across the barriers of caste and class, smoothing out inequalities imposed by birth and other circumstances.

Nothing that is worthwhile is ever easy.

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

Being prime minister isn't the only job in life! As far as I'm concerned, I could live in a village and be satisfied.

Now I don't get upset by unpleasant things, I don't play the victim, and I'm always ready to come to terms with life.

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

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

I learned very soon to get along by myself.

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

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

Rebels and non-conformists are often the pioneers and designers of change.

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

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

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

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

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

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

As my father [Javāharlāl Nehrū] said, you have to keep an open mind, but you have to pour something into it - otherwise ideas slip away like sand between your fingers.

The greatest of all contraceptives is affluence.

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

The sterilization of men is one method of birth control. The surest, most radical method. To you it seems dreadful. To me it seems that, properly applied, it's by no means dreadful.

There is not love where there is no will.