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.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat for it is momentary.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True victory is not achieved through violence, as it is temporary and ultimately defeats its purpose.
This quote by Mahatma Gandhi highlights the idea that victories gained through violent means are not true victories, as they are fleeting and do not bring about lasting change. Instead, such victories often lead to further conflict and suffering, indicating that methods of peace and non-violence are ultimately more powerful and effective in achieving lasting success and harmony.
Themes
VictoryViolenceDefeatPeaceNon-Violence
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speaker might use this quote to emphasize the importance of peaceful solutions in conflicts.
More from Mahatma Gandhi
All quotes βLove never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents never revenges itself.
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Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
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The real test of nonviolence lies in its being brought in contact with those who have contempt for it.
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Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
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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.
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Similar quotes
Good and wise men, in all ages, have embraced a very dissimilar theory. They have supposed that the deity, from the relations we stand in to himself and to each other, has constituted an eternal and immutable law, which is indispensably obligatory upon all mankind, prior to any human institution whatever. This is what is called the law of nature....Upon this law depend the natural rights of mankind.
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Revolt is the right of the people
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So always, if we look back, concern for face-to-face morality, and its modern emphasis on justice as well, have historically evolved as religious issues.
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In some ways, I had a traditional 'old South' upbringing, meaning that I spent some time in a military school, and acquired an inoculum of the military ethic that is still with me today: honor, duty, loyalty.
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If we must have a tyrant, let him at least be a gentleman who has been bred to the business, and let us fall by the axe and not by the butcher's cleaver.
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I look at the world and I see absurdity all around me. People do strange things constantly, to the point that, for the most part, we manage not to see it. That's why I love coffee shops and public places - I mean, they're all out there.
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