Mahatma Gandhi Quotes on Nature
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, political leader, and philosopher who developed the doctrine and practice of satyagraha, nonviolent civil resistance, into a transformative form of political action. This page collects quotes attributed to Mahatma Gandhi on the topic of nature, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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“Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilised—the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals .”
1900s | "My Experience in Gaol", Indian Opinion (7 March 1908). Also: Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi , op cit., Vol. 8, p. 199. -
“The only thing lawful is non-violence. Violence can never be lawful in the sense meant here, i.e., not according to man-made laws, but according to the laws made by Nature for man.”
1940s | Harijan (27 October 1946) p. 369 -
“Vegetarians should have that moral basis—that a man was not born a carnivorous animal, but born to live on the fruits and herbs that the earth grows.”
1930s | Speech at Meeting of London Vegetarian Society (20 November 1931), in The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi (New Delhi: Publications Division Government of India, 1999 electronic edition), Volume 54 , -
“"To deprive a man of his natural liberty and to deny to him the ordinary amenities of life is worse than starving the body.”
1930s