Monday, August 20, 2007

Two from Gandhi

Oh, I like both of these:

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
~~~
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

--M.K. Gandhi

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:13 PM

    I wonder if Gandhi would have liked, "Dance as if no one is watching."?
    Carolyn L.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just saw the movie Gandhi and was very moved by the person. He was a very wise man.

    Here are some of his quotes that I keep in my pocket at work, when the stresses of the day threaten to overwhelm:

    • A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.
    • As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world -- that is the myth of the atomic age -- as in being able to remake ourselves.
    • Be the change you want to see in the world.
    • First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

    Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

    You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind. They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them.

    An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

    Hate the sin, love the sinner.

    Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

    We must be the change we wish to see.

    The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

    Suffering cheerfully endured, ceases to be suffering and is transmuted into an ineffable joy.

    Whenever I see an erring man, I say to myself I have also erred; when I see a lustful man I say to myself, so was I once; and in this way I feel kinship with everyone in the world and feel that I cannot be happy without the humblest of us being happy.

    To forgive is not to forget. The merit lies in loving in spite of the vivid knowledge that the one that must be loved is not a friend.

    Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation, and a wicked deed disapprobation, the doer of the deed, whether good or wicked always deserves respect or pity as the case may be.

    Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment.

    It is good to see ourselves as others see us. Try as we may, we are never able to know ourselves fully as we are, especially the evil side of us.

    This we can do only if we are not angry with our critics but will take in good heart whatever they might have to say.

    A fear-stricken person can never know God, and one who knows God will never fear a mortal man. There would be no one to frighten you if you refuse to be afraid.

    ReplyDelete

New policy: Anonymous posts must be signed or they will be deleted. Pick a name, any name (it could be Paperclip or Doorknob), but identify yourself in some way. Thank you.