To forgive is not to forget. The merit lies in loving in spite of the vivid knowledge that one that must be loved is not a friend. There is not merit in loving an enemy when you forget him for a friend.
Poverty is the worst form of violence.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Poverty causes immense suffering and can be more destructive than physical violence.
Mahatma Gandhi's assertion that 'poverty is the worst form of violence' emphasizes the profound impact that economic deprivation has on individuals and society. By equating poverty with violence, he highlights how the lack of basic resources can lead to suffering, degradation, and loss of dignity, effectively inflicting harm on those who experience it without any physical confrontation. This perspective urges us to view poverty not merely as a socio-economic issue but as a moral one that requires our attention and action.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech addressing social justice, one might quote Gandhi to emphasize the need for economic reforms.
More from Mahatma Gandhi
All quotes →Love never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents never revenges itself.
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
The real test of nonviolence lies in its being brought in contact with those who have contempt for it.
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
The devotion of such titans of spirit as Lenin to an Ideal must bear fruit. The nobility of his selflessness will be an example through centuries to come, and his Ideal will reach perfection.
Similar quotes
Western interests: imperialism, colonialism, exploitation, racism, and other negative -isms.
It is foolish to view realism and idealism as incompatible or to consider our power and wealth as encumbered by the demands of justice, morality, and conscience.
It's a rare and precious thing to be close to suffering because our society - in many ways - tells us that suffering is wrong. If it's our own suffering, we try to hide it or isolate ourselves. If others are suffering, we're taught to put them away somewhere so we don't have to see it.
Christianity isn’t moving people’s lives today. What’s moving people’s lives is the stock market and the baseball scores. What are people excited about? It’s a totally materialistic level that has taken over the world. There isn’t even an ideal that anybody’s fighting for.
For, in truth, an image is only dead matter shaped by the craftsman's hand. But we have no sensible image of sensible matter, but an image that is perceived by the mind alone: God, who alone is truly God.
Let us think of people as starting life with an experience they forget and ending it with one which they anticipate but cannot understand.