H. G. Wells was not the only one to mention Churchill and Hitler in the same breath: "Churchill and Hitler are striving to change the nature of their respective countrymen by forcing and hammering violent methods on them. Man may be suppressed in this manner but he cannot be changed. Ahimsa [non-violence in the Hindu tradition], on the other hand, can change human nature and sooner than men like Churchill and Hitler."

Prosecution of the constructive programme means constructing the structure of Swaraj.

My fast is, among other things, meant to qualify me for achieving that equal and selfless love.

If the circulation of blood theory could not have been discovered without vivisection, the human kind could well have done without it.

To me the Mahabharata is a profoundly religious book, largely allegorical, in a way meant to be a historical record.

War is an unmitigated evil. But it certainly does one good thing. It drives away fear and brings bravery to the surface.

The weapon of nonviolence does not need supermen or superwomen to wield it; even beings of common clay can use it and have used it before this with success.