Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most known and influential teachers of the last century. He counts as one of our history’s most transformative and inspirational figures, and his work in order to support the rights and dignity of all people is well known all over the globe.
Yet, what most people don’t know about the Indian teacher is that he initially started his career as a lawyer and that he was terrified of public speaking. When he had his first court case, he fled from the courtroom out of panic.
However, he managed to turn this weakness into a strength and touch the lives of millions of people. Instead of talking, Gandhi focused on listening.
He listened to people with more empathy and compassion than anyone else. This, in return, allowed him to one day reach the masses and share his message with a massive crowd without the need to be loud.
He knew how to say more with less, and he used this power to influence the world positively. Gandhi’s words still inspire people all over the world to change themselves for the better and spread more joy instead of hate.
Here are my favorite Gandhi quotes and how they changed my life:
“Love is the strongest force the world possesses.”
Honestly, it doesn’t matter who said this, it’s just beautiful.
In our daily lives, we get so caught up with stressful situations, routines, and struggles that we miss out on loving.
Yet, as Gandhi beautifully stated, love itself is not only an emotion but the strongest force. Through love, we can change ourselves, our environment, and probably the whole world.
And guess what? It starts with ourselves.
Before we can spread love to the rest of the world, we need to love ourselves.
We need to align ourselves with who we really are and appreciate our strengths as well as weaknesses.
We all are miracles, and we should start living accordingly. Once we love ourselves, we will also have enough love to share with the rest of the world.
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”
When I first came across this quote, I had to reflect for some while until I understood what it truly means.
After a few minutes, I came up with the following thoughts:
Nowadays, so many people and businesses are screaming louder than ever before. Everyone and every business want attention, and most of them hope to get it by being present, aggressive, and loud.
Most people are not able to stand still for a minute because they are so used to the loudness of the world and the daily overload of information. They think they need to be as noisy to deal with the rest.
But that’s not true.
Gandhi himself has proven how one single man can positively change the whole world without any loud noise at all. He never used loudness to convince anyone. Instead, he focused on delivering value, being compassionate, and sharing love.
“If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”
In the past five years, I’ve read hundreds of books about mindset. And if I had to sum them up in one sentence, this quote would be the perfect match.
Whatever it is that you are trying to achieve, it all starts in your mind. Your beliefs make or break your success.
It took me a while to understand this, and it took me even longer to truly believe in it. But once I managed to shift my beliefs and trust myself, my whole life changed.
Lately, I published a story sharing how I crushed my goal of making $5,000+ on Medium in a single month. Yes, I had to write a lot, and yes, I learned a lot on how to succeed on Medium in the past two years, but the major gamechanger was my mind.
I knew that I could have it. I knew that I was able to acquire any skill and knowledge I needed in order to make my first $5,000 on Medium in a month. And it worked.
No matter where you start, you always have access to everything you need in order to reach your goals and even go way beyond them. You just need to believe in yourself, focus on winning, strengthen your mindset, and give your best to improve relevant skills every single day.
It doesn’t matter who you are now. What matters is who you can become if you give your best and trust in yourself as well as in the universe.
“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is like an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
Unfortunately, we all face negative people throughout our lives. Not only negative people but also those who openly try to harm others. That’s sad, and it’s a shame, but as Gandhi taught, it’s no reason to lose faith in humanity.
Admittedly, I often questioned humanity and why some people are so evil. Whenever I watched the news, I was wondering about how certain people can be so cruel to others.
However, I quit watching and reading the news three years ago. And once I did so, my whole life changed. Suddenly, I felt as if there’s much less negativity going on. Of course, that was not true, there is still bad news every day, but I don’t see them. I decided to focus on the positive in the world, and so far, I am delighted with my decision.
As long as we don’t take action, watching the news and being aware of all the misery that is going on in the world doesn’t help anyway. It probably leads to frustration and mental health problems, but it surely doesn’t make the world a better place.
The problem with watching the news is that we believe there are so many bad, evil people going around. However, that’s not true.
Losing faith in humanity because of what a few specific people do wrong is a pitty. That’s why I decided to exclude negativity from my life.
Instead, I surround myself with like-minded, positive people, and I can strongly advise you to also reflect on your social circle and consciously decide with whom you want to spend your days.
“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. We need not wait to see what others do.”
This quote is often shortened and well known as the following:
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Some people like arguing about quotes and whether a certain person truly used these specific words or not. In my opinion, that’s unnecessary.
Most quotes, no matter if they are attributed to Gandhi, Buddha, Confucius, Tony Robbins, or Kobe Bryant, are powerful. And that’s the point, right?
To me, it doesn’t matter who used a certain quote. I am interested in the message. I want to know how I can use these little words of wisdom to live a better, happier life. I don’t care which specific words Gandhi used to spread his message.
And that’s precisely what I want to change in this world. Thus I am doing it myself. In general, I give my best to spread love, but sometimes I just block people from seeing my content and reading my postings.
I don’t accept any negativity in my life, nor do I accept negative comments under my postings. That’s just the change I want to see in the world: more positivity. Therefore, I delete negativity. Easy as that.
If we’d all change ourselves and our own lives into a more positive, uplifting direction, the whole world would be a little more kind to each other.
“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”
Would you let anyone you don’t like step into your home? Would you sit at the dinner table with someone who continually abuses you and lets you feel bad about yourself?
I hope your answer is hell no.
Well, if you won’t let anyone harm you physically, why would you allow them to burden you mentally?
Most of the time, we allow people to harm us because we are not strong enough to say stop.
However, we need to realize that our time and energy are too costly and not to be wasted by naysayers.
The moment I decided to avoid negative people and kick everyone who was not supporting me out of my life, my wellbeing skyrocketed.
Knowing that you are surrounded by like-minded people who want to see you win is one of the most amazing feelings, and it’s accessible for everyone.
“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”
This one is deep, I know.
Most people struggle to admit that they are responsible for their own happiness. Instead, they rely their wellbeing on what others do and say.
Sometimes, that might go well, but most of the time, it will result in sadness and disappointments.
You are responsible for your happiness. Period.
And you are responsible for anyone who you let into your life.
Nobody has permission to do you wrong. And nobody can make you feel bad unless you let them do so.
You alone decide whether you allow anyone to mistreat you or if you claim to be treated with respect and love.
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
This is a controversial quote as Gandhi was probably not the first one to say it. However, he is often quoted, and as I find the saying extremely valuable, I decided to include it in this list.
On average, we have 30,000 days to spend on this planet.
That’s a lot of days we can use for living our wildest dreams, making the most out of ourselves, loving profoundly, and enjoying each second of our lives.
I believe 30,000 days are enough to have a great time. Yet, it’s not enough to waste a single day of your life.
You are a miracle. Your whole life is a miracle.
Act accordingly. Use your time wisely.
As Gandhi (or someone else) put it: live as if you were to die tomorrow.
And while doing so, learn as if you’d live forever because learning and growing are essential for being truly fulfilled. Our whole lives are about growth, and learning is the best way to personal, professional, and emotional growth.
Stagnation equals death, so stay curious and practice self-reflection regularly to ensure you don’t miss out on the lessons the universe is trying to teach you.
“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”
Freedom is one of the few things, almost anyone on this planet desires.
At least, I didn’t meet anyone stating the contrary so far.
We all strive to live in freedom, yet, we often block ourselves due to our fear of mistakes. Instead of using mistakes as a stepping stone to success, we try to avoid them.
The paradox, however, is that we can’t avoid failure anyway.
Nobody who made it to the top got there without failing at least a dozen times. Winning, no matter if in business, sports, relationships, or whatsoever, is about practicing a lot, giving your best, believing in yourself, and going the extra mile. And while doing so, you will surely experience disappointments.
We are all humane. We can’t give 100 % all the time. And that’s fine.
Life is not about being perfect or being better than anyone else. It’s about giving our best and enjoying every day as if it was our last.