Indira Gandhi

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?

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.

If I see something dirty or untidy, I have to clean it up.

This is why we feel that democracy's important: because democracy allows you to have small explosions and therefore avoid the bigger explosions.

Wearing khadi was a badge of honour. It was something one was proud to do.

I'm certainly not a workaholic.

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

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

Martyrdom does not end something, it only a beginning.

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

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

I don't think my father was my mentor.

My son had nothing to do with policy or decision making, nor did I discuss the elections or any other matter with him.

I've never turned to anybody for advice and counsel. Even when I was a very small child, I had to stand on my feet because of the circumstances of those times, and somehow, the circumstances have remained more or less the same. I have to take my own decisions.

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

I have already reached out to the janata, and I am only trying to acquaint myself with people's problems.

I am frequently attacked.

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

On the one hand, the rich look askance at our continuing poverty - on the other, they warn us against their own methods.

The collective judgment of the electorate must be respected.

I was happy to be with my parents. I didn't see very much of them, so I was very happy when my father was there and out of jail.

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

People tend to forget their duties but remember their rights.

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

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.