Nothing that is worthwhile is ever easy.

It's true that I refused foreign aid. It's true. It wasn't my personal decision, however - it was the whole country that said no.

Even today to be civilised is held to be synonymous with being westernised. Advanced countries devote large resources to formulating and spreading ideas and doctrines and they tend to impose on the developing nations their own norms and methods. The pattern of the classical acquisitive society with its deliberate multiplication of wants not only is unsuited to conditions in our countries but is positively harmful.

When one has had a life as difficult as mine, one doesn't worry about how others will react.

To become capable, one must have faith in oneself.

To bear many children is considered not only a religious blessing but also an investment. The greater their number, some Indians reason, the more alms they can beg.

My father was a statesman, I'm a political woman. My father was a saint. I'm not.