Dominion of India

Jiddu Krishnamurti

Education

1895–1986

"Can the mind become completely still without coercion, without compulsion, without discipline?"

Nisargadatta Maharaj

Education

1897–1981

"As it is natural for the incense stick to burn out, so it is natural for the body to die. Really, it is a matter of very little importance. What matters is that I am neither the body nor the mind. I am."

V. P. Singh

Politics

1931–2008

"His self-righteous posturing is a cover so dexterously used by him to pursue his ambition, to hog the limelight by any means."

Indira Gandhi

Politics

1917–1984

"I am not interested in a long life. I am not afraid of these things. I don't mind if my life goes in the service of this nation. If I die today, every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation."

Sita Ram Goel

Literature

1921–2003

"...except for the NCERT experts who specialise in making molehills of mountains, and vice versa."

Jawaharlal Nehru

Politics

1889–1964

"History is almost always written by the victors and conquerors and gives their view. Or, at any rate, the victors' version is given prominence and holds the field."

Mohammad Hidayatullah

Politics

1905–1992

"As Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, he had the awesome task of dealing with some unruly scenes. He did so with aplomb and finesse, often with a witticism that helped defuse the situation."

Ramana Maharshi

Philosophy

Neo-Vedanta

1879–1950

"There is no duality. Your present knowledge is due to the ego and is only relative. Relative knowledge requires a subject and an object, whereas the awareness of the Self is absolute and requires no object."

"Polls are after all places where you stand in line for a chance to decide who will spend your money, and where the Candidate stands for what people will fall for."

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy

Politics

1913–1996

"The Speaker is seen, but not heard and the President is neither seen nor heard. He would very much would a President who is neither seen nor heard, but who decides. I would like to do something silently."

"Life's too short to sell things you don't believe in."

Chandra Shekhar

Politics

1927–2007

"I am a Hindu... I am proud of being a Hindu... and because of tolerance to all other religions, I consider Hinduism superior."

"The welfare of the weaker sections of our society has been entrusted to the nation’s collective care by the founding fathers of our polity. Their advancement must, therefore be regarded by the nation as its privilege."

V. V. Giri

Politics

1894–1980

"A democratic government can gain strength and vitality only by constant scrutiny and the genuine fear that it may be thrown out of a vigilant public opinion."

Mother Teresa

Religion

1910–1997

"Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love."

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed

Politics

1905–1977

"He was a man with modest habits, he was fond of light music, he had neither smoked nor even took ‘pan’ but he was fond of good dress."

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Politics

1888–1975

"The art of discovery is confused with the logic of proof and an artificial simplification of the deeper movements of thought results. We forget that we invent by intuition though we prove by logic."

Chinmayananda Saraswati

Education

1916–1993

"When opportunity knocks, We are either out or sleeping in."

"Hindus and Muslims can both be fanatics, but it is only Muslims who can be fundamentalists."

U. G. Krishnamurti

Religion

1918–2007

"It is the body that is immortal. It is living from moment to moment. As a human body it is an extraordinary piece of creation. But as a human being he is rotten because of the culture."

Shankar Dayal Sharma

Politics

1918–1999

"His stewardship of the upper house proved his merit for presidentship. His ruling in the Rajya Sabha, blending humour and firmness established him as a champion of Parliamentary dignity and traditions."

Charan Singh

Politics

1853–1908

"...quite a number of Congressmen are disguised as communists. They will go with Mrs Gandhi to the ultimate end. They have always been enemies of democracy. Behind-them is the Right CPI and behind it is Soviet Russia."