Mahatma’s Wisdom

If you were to ask an average Indian who their tallest leader is, most likely the answer would be Mahatma Gandhi, fondly addressed as the father of the nation. It’s his 152 birth anniversary today, and as the nation pays homage to this great humanitarian, I spent this afternoon processing some of the extraordinary wisdom that the Mahatma has left for all of us.

I share here my selection of fifteen nuggets from him that hold timeless lessons..

1. An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.
2. It is the quality of our work that will please God and not the quantity.
3. Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs, but not every man’s greed.
4. Beware of the seven social sins- Politics without principles, wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, and worship without sacrifice.
5. Let go of worry- There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever.
6. Where there is love, there is always peace. The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.
7.  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.
8. Live each day as if it were your last. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
9. Contrary to what many of us assume, forgiveness is not a weakness; it is a strength- The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
10. An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
11. Love is the strongest force the world possesses, and yet it is the humblest imaginable.
12. Nobody can hurt me without my permission.
13. The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. Freedom and slavery are mental states.
14. It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.
15. Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become YOUR WORDS. Keep your words positive because your words become YOUR BEHAVIOR. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes YOUR HABITS. Keep your habits positive because your habits become YOUR VALUES. Keep your values positive because your values become YOUR DESTINY.