Jawaharlal Nehru Quotes - Page 5

I am the last Englishman to rule in India.

Often in history we see that religion, which was meant to raise us and make us better and nobler, has made people behave like beasts. Instead of bringing enlightenment of them, it has often tried to keep them in the dark; instead of broadening their minds, it has frequently made them narrow-minded and intolerant of others.

Every great revolution, whether it is right or not, we really know has any vital, urgent need to basis. It comes not just from itself.

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure.

The spectacle of what is called religion, or at any rate organised religion, in India and elsewhere, has filled me with horror and I have frequently condemned it and wished to make a clean sweep of it. Almost always it seemed to stand for blind belief and reaction, dogma and bigotry, superstition, exploitation and the preservation of vested interests.

Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse. So we are forced to accept democracy. It has good points and also bad. But merely saying that democracy will solve all problems is utterly wrong. Problems are solved by intelligence and hard work.

The light has gone out of our lives... Yet I am wrong, for the light that shone in this country was no ordinary light... and a thousand years later that light will still be seen in this country and the world will see it... For that light represented the living truth.

The Ganga, especially, is the river of India, beloved of her people, round which are intertwined her memories, her hopes and fears, her songs of triumph, her victories and her defeats. She has been a symbol of India's age-long culture and civilization, ever changing, ever flowing, and yet ever the same Ganga.

India cannot sit on the fence anymore. It may have to make a choice. Either way it is going face problems.

If I was asked what is the greatest treasure which India possesses and what is her finest heritage, I would answer unhesitatingly that it is the Samskrit language and literature and all that it contains. This is a magnificent inheritance and so long as this endures and influences the life of our people, so long will the basic genius of India continue. If our race forgot the Buddha, the Upanishads and the great epics (Ramayana and Mahabharata), India would cease to be India .

History is the record of human progress, a record of the struggle of the advancement of the human mind, of the human spirit, towards some known or unknown objective.

No country or people who are slaves to dogma and the dogmatic mentality can progress, and unhappily our country and people have become extraordinarily dogmatic and little-minded

History is almost always written by the victors and conquerors and gives their view. Or, at any rate, the victors' version is given prominence and holds the field.

Only a prisoner who has been confined for long behind high walk can appreciate the extraordinary psychological value of these outside walks and open views.

Every little thing counts in a crisis.

If the world suffers from mental deterioration or from moral degradation, then something goes wrong at the very root of civilization or culture. Even though that civilization may drag out for a considerable period, it grows less and less vital and ultimately tumbles down.

The purely agitational attitude is not good enough for a detailed consideration of a subject.

The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere following Gandhi's assassination.

It is the habit of every aggressor nation to claim that it is acting on the defensive.

India has known the innocence and insouciance of childhood, the passion and abandon of youth, and the ripe wisdom of maturity that comes from long experience of pain and pleasure; and over and over a gain she has renewed her childhood and youth and age

I want nothing to do with any religion concerned with keeping the masses satisfied to live in hunger, filth, and ignorance.

Theoretical approaches have their place and are, I suppose, essential but a theory must be tempered with reality.

...that great lover of peace, a man of giant stature who moulded, as few other men have done, the destinies of his age.

I have long believed that the only way peace can be achieved is through world government.

When the present is full of gloom, the past becomes haven of refuge that provides relief and inspiration.