You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.

There exists no politician in India daring enough to attempt to explain to the masses that cows can be eaten.

Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood... will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic.

One must beware of ministers who can do nothing without money, and those who want to do everything with money.

There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.

Anger is never without an argument, but seldom with a good one.

My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.

People tend to forget their duties but remember their rights.

Martyrdom does not end something, it only a beginning.

My father was a statesman, I am a political woman. My father was a saint. I am not.

You must learn to be still in the midst of activity and to be vibrantly alive in repose.

The power to question is the basis of all human progress.

You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.

A nation' s strength ultimately consists in what it can do on its own, and not in what it can borrow from others.

Have a bias toward action - let's see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.

Forgiveness is a virtue of the brave.

There is not love where there is no will.

If I die a violent death, as some fear and a few are plotting, I know that the violence will be in the thought and the action of the assassins, not in my dying.

All my games were political games; I was, like Joan of Arc, perpetually being burned at the stake.

All the people who fought for freedom were my heroes. I mean, that was the sort of story I liked reading... freedom struggles and so on.

Happiness is a state of mind, you know. I don't think you are permanently happy. One is happy about certain things and not so happy about others.

I am not a person to be pressured - by anybody or any nation.

I do not like carving the world into segments; we are one world.

I have lived a long life, and I am proud that I spend the whole of my life in the service of my people. I am only proud of this and nothing else. I shall continue to serve until my last breath, and when I die, I can say, that every drop of my blood will invigorate India and strengthen it.

I think basically I'm lazy, but I have a housewife's mentality when I go about my job.

The collective judgment of the electorate must be respected.

The people have nothing to fear of me; people have never feared me.

There are grave misgivings that the discussion on ecology may be designed to distract attention from the problems of war and poverty.

We do not wish to impoverish the environment any further, and yet we cannot for a moment forget the grim poverty of large numbers of people. Are not poverty and need the greatest polluters?

We have to prove to the disinherited majority of the world that ecology and conservation will not work against their interest but will bring an improvement in their lives.

Winning or losing of the election is less important than strengthening the country.

You can't shake hands with a clenched fist.

There are two kinds of people those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group there is less competition there.

One must beware of ministers who can do nothing without money and those who want to do everything with money.

Have a bias towards action lets see something happen now. You can break that big plan into small steps and take the first step right away.

My grandfather once told me that there are two kinds of people those who work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group there was much less competition.

Anger is never without an argument but seldom with a good one.

Never forget that when we are silent, we are one. And when we speak we are two.

Nothing that is worthwhile is ever easy.

Popularity is not a guarantee of quality.

Rebels and non-conformists are often the pioneers and designers of change.

The civil servant is primarily the master of the short-term solution.

A good artist has less time than ideas.

The ideas of an age are most abundant where they are not crowded by original ideas.

While the war in Iraq was raging, I spent some time in neighbouring Jordan, meeting with Iraqi refugees who fled their country to try to find some place of safety. I interviewed many families about what had happened to them and what they did as a result.

I live in New York simply because I don't know any better. I moved there when the show went off the air a couple of years after that.

The past is but the past of a beginning.

Sometimes I think your face and your bearing and your energy have so much more to do with the jobs you get than the actual work and the time and the effort that you put in, or the talent even.

It'd be really nice to sit down with all the people who have hurt me and tell them all the reasons that they've affected me.