Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a visionary, both politically and spiritually. A pioneer of non-violent resistance, he paved the way for a how conflicts can be settled without resorting to violence.

His words on individual and moral integrity are as impactful today as when he first spoke them, particularly for anyone going through hard ethical and spiritual dilemmas, and serve as a reminder to all of us that one can find the balance to be gentle in action, but strong in conviction.

“A ‘No’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”

“A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does not help to solve them is no religion.”

“A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.”

“A weak man is just by accident. A strong but non-violent man is unjust by accident.”

“Action expresses priorities.”

“All compromise is based on give and take, but there can be no give and take on fundamentals. Any compromise on mere fundamentals is a surrender. For it is all give and no take.”

“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

“Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.”

“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 that you want to see in the world.”

“Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer. I feel stronger for confession.”

“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.”

“Culture of the mind must be subservient to the heart.”

“Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.”

“Each one prays to God according to his own light.”

“Even if you are a minority of one, the truth is the truth.”

“Faith… must be enforced by reason… when faith becomes blind it dies.”

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

“Glory lies in the attempt to reach one’s goal and not in reaching it.”

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”

“Healthy discontent is the prelude to progress.”

“I claim that human mind or human society is not divided into watertight compartments called social, political and religious. All act and react upon one another.”

“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”

When thinking of a brilliant mind, one immediately calls to mind Albert Einstein. Even if one is not a scientist, he can be admired and respected: as a professional, he utterly revolutionized his field, never stopped thinking and expanding the boundaries set by his predecessors.

Not only was Einstein an incredibly brilliant theoretical physicist, but his insights into life, logic and spirituality were both elegant and enlightening, and give further evidence to the brilliance that he contained within himself. He was and remains an inspiration and a marvel; a man whose simplicity, intelligence, and kindness we can all aspire to.

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.”

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

“I want to know God’s thoughts; the rest are details.”

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

“The only real valuable thing is intuition.”

“A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.”

“I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice.”

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”

“Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds.”

“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”

“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”

“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.”

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.”

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”

“Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.”

“If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.”

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the the universe.”

“The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge.”

“The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there’s no risk of accident for someone who’s dead.”

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.”

“My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.”