Mahatma Gandhi Quotes: Inspiring Sayings By India's Iconic Leader On His Birthday

Tuesday marks the 150th birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known to the world as Mahatma Gandhi. The leader of the Indian nonviolent movement against British rule belonged to a wealthy family in the Gujarat region of western India.

Gandhi's efforts were central to India becoming independent in 1947 and his practice of nonviolent protest inspired American revolutionary leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and former South African president Nelson Mandela.

"India is a land of diversity. If there was one person who brought everyone together, made people rise above differences, to fight colonialism and enhanced India's stature at the world stage, it was Mahatma Gandhi," India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote in a blog to mark the birth anniversary of the "Father of the Nation" on Tuesday.

"In a world where terrorism, radicalisation, extremism and mindless hate are dividing nations as well as societies, his clarion calls of peace and ahimsa have the power to unite humanity," Modi wrote in the blog, which he also tweeted.

On his 150th birth anniversary, here are some inspiring quotes by the great leader, collected from Brainy Quotes and Goodreads.

1. “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

2. "Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes."

3. "Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, 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."

4. " You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."

5. "I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."

6. "Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart."

7. "What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?"

8. “A 'no' uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a 'yes' uttered merely to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.”

9. “When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.”

10. “It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.”