Gandhi’s Best Quotes on How to Evolve Yourself and the World Around You

Gandhi was one cool dude.

He is nearly always ranked high in one of those stupid list articles people write…but seriously, Gandhi changed the word with words, he is constantly one of the most undervalued humans to have walked this planet. He did some odd things, we can all agree, but beyond a few human details; every step he took, every action that was taken, and every word that was spoken…was calculated. Aimed at creating growth, peace, and unity among all races and religions.

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problem.” “I have learnt through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmuted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmuted into a power which can move the world.” “Under democracy individual liberty of opinion and action is jealously guarded.” “In matters of conscience, the law of majority has no place. “

The above is just a taste of the wisdom Gandhi threw down on people, or animals, since Gandhi of course could relate to nearly every species on planet earth, mostly due to the fact that he was completely and totally in tune with his inner, and outer-self.

His view on the world was brutally realistic so his logic often created a sense of hopelessness amongst many, but little did they know that he was just the only one mentally prepared for the new society being developed throughout his lifetime. A lifetime hugely influenced by the rise of the industrial age and Britains efforts to keep India under its rule.

Gandhi was alive during a transitional phase due to this industrial revolution, and he most definitely wasn’t blind to the new horrors being innovated and the profit being made off fossil fuels, steel, labor, ammunition, the list goes on.

While Mahatma Gandhi doesn’t need much of an introduction, many people don’t know the true details of the man who lead the Indian people to independence from British rule in 1947. The best way to learn about his history and personality is by reading his words through his many documented, and famous quotes.

So, I say we just get it going with some more Gandhi knowledge, ideology, and wisdom as that’s how we will really learn anything from this article, because I swear…I’m no Gandhi.

1. Change Yourself…Inside and Out

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.” “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.”

If you change yourself you will change the world around you. If you change how you think then you will change how you feel and what actions you take. You can be full of confidence, a thing which some have never even experienced before.

The problem with changing your outer world without changing yourself is that you will still be you when you reach that change you have strived for. You will still have your flaws, anger, negativity, self-sabotaging tendencies and habits.

So, in this new situation you will still not find what you hoped for since your mind is still being suffocated with negative energy. And if you get more without having some insight into and distance from your ego it may grow more powerful. Since your ego loves to divide things, to find enemies and to create separation it may start to try to create even more problems and conflicts in your life and world.

2. You’re in Control.

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”

What you feel and how much you allow others emotions to control you is always your decision. There may be a “normal” or a societally common way to react to different situations. But, in reality, that’s all it is.

You can train yourself through meditation and mindfulness to begin choosing which thoughts you show any sort of a reaction and/or emotional appeal towards, and this includes everything in life. You don’t have to freak out, overreact, or even react in any way.

As you begin to actually control how you feel you then begin to incorporate this thinking into your daily life and develop it into your new “normal” habit. A habit that, through consistent practice, become stronger and stronger over time. Doing this makes life easier, less stressful, and more pleasurable.

3. Forgive and Move Forward.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” “An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

Fighting evil with evil won’t help anyone, especially when you can always choose how to react to something (from above). When you can incorporate such a thought habit into your life then you begin reacting in a way that is more useful to you and much more Gandhi like.

You can come to the realization, like Gandhi did, that forgiving and letting go of the past will do you and the people in your world a great service. Spending your time in some negative memory won’t help you after you have learned the lessons you can learn from that experience. Once you’ve done it, you’ve done it.

If you don’t forgive then you let the past, and another person’s thoughts, control how you feel. By forgiving you release yourself from those chains and bonds holding you back. Once you get past this, then you can really Carpe Diem, seize the day, and the present moment.

4. Without Any Action You Stay Idle.

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.” “There is no such thing as slow freedom. Freedom is like a birth. Till we are fully free we are slaves.”

Without taking action nothing will ever occur or get done. However, taking action can be hard and difficult mostly because of the inner resistance one feels when trying something new, intimidating, or strange.

To really get where you can quickly translate and enter your personal “happy place” you must really understand yourself and the world you’ve created around you. Books can mostly just bring you knowledge. You have to take action and translate that knowledge into results and understanding.

5. We’re all Human.

“I claim to be a simple individual liable to err like any other fellow mortal. I own, however, that I have humility enough to confess my errors and to retrace my steps.”

“It is unwise to be too sure of one’s own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.”

When you start to make myths out of people, even though they may have produced extraordinary results, you run the risk of becoming disconnected from them. You can start to feel like you could never achieve similar things that they did because they are so very different. So it’s important to keep in mind that everyone is just a human being no matter who they are.

And I think it’s important to remember that we are all human and prone to make mistakes. Holding people to unreasonable standards will only create more unnecessary conflicts in your world and create negativity within you.

Avoid falling into the pretty useless habit of beating yourself up over mistakes that you have made. And instead be able to see with clarity where you went wrong and what you can learn from your mistake. And then try again.

6. Persist.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Be persistent. In time, any barrier or hinderance blocking your path will dissolve before your eyes and progress will be made…your inner resistance and negative past tendencies that hold you back but persistence will finally weaken these habits enough for you to overcome and control the environment, or world, around you. (Persistence = Patience + Determination)

Find what you really like to do. Then you’ll find the inner motivation to just keep swimming, just keep swimming...Shoutout to Finding Nemo. You can always surf the inter-web for innovative strategies, professional opinions, personal experiences or stories, and life-hacks all for gaining and maintaining motivation. This pool of knowledge is a google search away allowing you to never have an excuse for being unmotivated!

Articles examples are the ever-popular “list articles”, opinion-driven life-hack articles, and formulated step-by-step articles. All of these styles of content creatively try to reveal the blueprint and formula to becoming explained to the reader.

Another influential and great thinker of our time is the late Steve Jobs of Apple. This quote I felt went along with the current topic of self-motivation, and is very “Gandhi-esque”.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” — Steve Jobs

One reason Gandhi was so successful with his method of non-violence was because he and his followers were fully committed to their cause. They defined what their belief was by drawing moral lines in the sand and staying committed to this belief for a lifetime. Gandhi was incredible at keeping his word, so persistence is a trait and quality that successful people obviously share.

Whatever you find to be a success or victory, just know that it will seldom come as quickly as you want or last near as long as you wish. I think one of the reasons people don’t get what they want is simply because they give up too soon. This fear is usually exaggerated and used as an excuse to not put in the inevitable hard work.

This is the new attitude of the globalized and instantly gratified society of today. A dark veiled world that is brightened by the thousands of promotional promises thrown our way every day…promises of magic solutions help you “shed those unwanted pounds, or maybe how to earn piles of money in just 30 days!”. You can read more about this in One Big Mistake a Whole Lot of People Make.

7. See the good in people and help them.

“I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.” “Man becomes great exactly in the degree in which he works for the welfare of his fellow-men.” “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people.”

It takes a special type of person to to consistently find and concentrate solely on the good in every person you meet. While there is certainly always something good in a person, more often than not us humans tend to hyper-focus on the few faults of a person. We let these few mistakes define a person wholly and this has terrible repercussions across an entire society. Luckily, again, you can choose what “things” you want to focus on. It also makes life easier for you as your world, and over-time relationships will become more pleasant and positive.

When you see the good in people it in turn becomes easier to motivate yourself, and then is easier to service and help those around you. This mantra is what Gandhi lived and died by. He never “judged a book by it’s cover” and let the past be but the past. By being of service to other people you immediately give them value that makes their lives better, but also over time you tend to get what you give. This unique trait will help others feel more inclined to follow your lead and helps other people become more courageous.

“This creates a beautiful cycle of change and is constantly pushing the agenda of Gandhi; an ideology seen as purely positive social and personal growth.” — Robert Fallon

See….^^^ anyone can provide wisdom by understanding what priorites in life will help strengthen your social skills and become a more influential person…this adds to the upward spiral of positivity, ignited by people similar to Gandhi, even stronger.

8. Be Authentic: Your True Self.

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” “Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

I think that one of the best tips for improving your social skills is to behave in a harmonious manner and align your communication to others in an authentic way. People naturally gravitate towards authentic communication and there is much inner enjoyment to be found when your thoughts, words and actions are aligned. You feel powerful, you feel good about yourself, hell, for some you finally just “feel” something.

When words and thoughts are aligned and congruent it will shine through and improve your local and global communication. Aligning your tone, dialogue, and body language, which some say is over 90 percent of communication, will give depth, reasoning, and purity to your message.

Gandhi was a ninja at communicating powerfully. People listened to him, but why? I believe he understood how important it is to consistently align your messaging, and how much it impacts the attention one gives to another person.

Also, if your actions aren’t in alignment with what you’re communicating then you start to hurt your own belief in what you can do. And other people’s belief in you too.

9. Continuously Grow and Evolve.

“Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position.”

You can always find an avenue in which to improve a skill, and grow as a person. You should try an exercise of re-aligning your evaluations and priorities in the effort to gain deeper understanding of yourself and the world through mindfulness, inside and out.

Growth takes time. Don’t get upset because at times you will appear inconsistent or like you don’t know what you are doing…because if you don’t then you will, as the wise Gandhi quoted, “drive yourself into a false position”. A position where you try to uphold or cling onto the past views so that your current reality appears consistent while you realize all along that something is wrong. It’s not a fun place to be at. To choose to grow and evolve is a happier and less stressful path to take, Gandhi promises. I promise also, as I know the continued learning is how I will inch my way closer to becoming “Gandhi-like”.

Cheers,

J. Robert Fallon III