INSPIRATION​​​​​​​ AND INFLUENCE

"Great men and eminent men have monuments in bronze and marble set up for them, but this man of divine fire managed in his life-time to become enmeshed in millions and millions of hearts so that all of us became somewhat of the stuff that he was made of, though to an infinitely lesser degree. He spread out over India not in palaces only, or in select places, or in assemblies, but in every hamlet and hut of the lowly and those who suffer. He lives in the hearts of millions and he will live for immemorial ages. In ages to come, centuries and may be millenniums after us, people will think of this generation when this man of God trod the earth and will think of us who, however small, could also follow his path and probably tread on that holy ground where his feet had been. Let us be worthy of him. Let us always be so."

~ Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, First Indian Prime Minister

"Gandhi was a great Indian nationalist, but at the same time he was a leader of international stature. His teachings and his actions have left a deep impression on millions of people. As a teacher and leader, his influence made itself felt not only in India, but everywhere in the world and his death brings great sorrow to all peace-loving people. Another giant among men has fallen in the cause of brotherhood and peace. I-know that the peoples of Asia will be inspired by his tragic death to strive with increased determination to achieve the goals of co-operation and mutual trust for which the Mahatma has now given his life.​​​​​​​

~ President Harry Truman, the 33rd U.S. President

"He dared to exhort nonviolence in a time when the violence of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had exploded on us; he exhorted morality when science, technology and the capitalist order had made it redundant; he replaced self-interest with group interest without minimizing the importance of self."

~ Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa 

"It was in this Gandhian emphasis on love and nonviolence that I discovered the method for social reform that I had been seeking for so many months. The intellectual and moral satisfaction that I failed to gain from the utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill, the revolutionary methods of Marx and Lenin, the social-contracts theory of Hobbes, the "back to nature" optimism of Rousseau, and the superman philosophy of Nietzche, I found in the nonviolent philosophy of Gandhi. I came to feel that this was the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom."​​​​​​​

~ Martin Luther King, Jr. most prominent leader in the American civil rights movement 

"Mahatma Gandhi will rightly take his place alone in Indian history as a leader who embodied far more than his own religious community's ideas of human brotherhood, of respect for individual conscience, and of supreme self- sacrifice in support of right."

~ The London Times

"Even today, in our modern world, Gandhiji’s principles of non-violence and reconciliation are relevant on a personal and political level."

~ Dalai Lama, spiritual leader and former head of the country of Tibet

“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth. A role model for the generations to come, I believe that Gandhi’s views were the most enlightened of all the political men in our time.”

~ Albert Einstein, German-born physicist