Now at first sight it might seem as if modern human beings who spend so much time getting help from machines are very lazy. What are the machines for but to save people trouble? They are extra limbs which men have made outside themselves to do their many works for them. Cranes and lifts are extra arms to do the job of lifting. Trains and motors are extra legs to do...

I think that a successful old age is easiest for those who have strong impersonal interests involving appropriate activities. It is in this sphere that long experience is really fruitful, and it is in this sphere that the wisdom born of experience can be exercised without being oppressive.It is no use telling grown up children not to make mistakes, both because they will not believe you, and because mistakes are an...

A vast responsibility therefore, rests on our universities and educational institutions and those who guide their destinies. They have to keep their lights burning and must not stray from the right path even when passion convulses the multitude and blinds many amongst those whose duty it is to set an example to others. We are not going to reach our goal through crookedness or flirting with evil in the hope that...

If we look back at India’s long history, we find that our forefathers made wonderful progress whenever they looked out on the world with clear and fearless eyes and kept the windows of their minds open to give and receive. And, in later periods, when they grew narrow in outlook and shrank from outside influence, India suffered a set-back, politically and culturally. What a magnificent inheritance we have, though we have...

You must work also for the unity of the world. We have come to a stage when our nationality is the human race and where the whole world is our home. We must, there-fore, try to do our utmost to remove the disabilities from which other people are suffering. This is why I said racial bigotry, Political exploitation, colonial domination and economic exploitation must be removed as speedily as possible, the...

The underlying secret of a lamp’s luster and splendor is that it spares not its wick and oil. The wick and oil or the little self is being constantly consumed and glory, is the natural consequence. There it is, the lamp says spare your life and you will be immediately extinguished. If you seek ease and comfort for your bodies and waste your time in sensual pleasure and luxury, there is...

One of the defects of our civilization is that it does not know what to do with its knowledge. Science, as we have seen, has given us powers fit for the gods, yet we use them like small children. For example, we do not know how to manage our machines. Machines were made to be man’s servants, yet he has grown so dependent on them that they are in a fair...

If today I have a quarrel with another man, I do not get beaten merely because I am physically weaker and he can knock me down. I go to law, and the law will decide as fairly as it can between two of us. Thus in disputes between man and man right have taken the place of might. Moreover, the law protects me from robbery and violence. Nobody may come and...