Jawaharlal Nehru
First Prime Minister of India
Sayings by Jawaharlal Nehru
What the mysterious is I do not know. I do not call it God because God has come to mean much that I do not believe in. I find myself incapable of thinking of a deity or of any unknown supreme power in anthropomorphic terms, and the fact that many people think so is continually a source of surprise to me. Any idea of a personal God seems very odd to me.
The spectacle of what is called religion, or at any rate organised religion, in India and elsewhere, has filled me with horror and I have frequently condemned it and wished to make a clean sweep of it. Almost always it seemed to stand for blind belief and reaction, dogma and bigotry, superstition, exploitation and the preservation of vested interests.
Politics and Religion are obsolete. The time has come for Science and Spirituality.
By education I am an Englishman, by views an internationalist, by culture a Muslim and a Hindu only by accident of birth.
There is nothing more horrifying than stupidity in action.
The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.
Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you is determinism; the way you play it is free will.
India is supposed to be a religious country above everything else, and Hindu and Muslim and Sikh and others take pride in their faiths and testify to their truth by breaking heads.
You don't change the course of history by turning the faces of portraits to the wall.
A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action.
The best and noblest gifts of humanity cannot be the monopoly of a particular race or country; its scope may not be limited nor may it be regarded as the miser's hoard buried underground.
The best and noblest gifts of humanity cannot be the monopoly of a particular race or country; its scope may not be limited nor may it be regarded as the miser's hoard buried underground.
We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.
If any person raises his hand to strike down another on the ground of religion, I shall fight him till the last breath of my life, both as the head of the government and from the outside.
If any person raises his hand to strike down another on the ground of religion, I shall fight him till the last breath of my life, both as the head of the government and from the outside.
I have long believed that the only way peace can be achieved is through world government.
I have long believed that the only way peace can be achieved is through world government.
The person who is afraid of the future, the person who is afraid of the consequences of his actions, is not a free person.
A leader or a man of action in a crisis is not a good person if he is not a little mad.
The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.