The Philosopher
Jawaharlal Nehru
The face
The background
- Nationality:
- Indian
- Schools:
- Harrow School, Trinity College, Cambridge, Inner Temple
- Period:
- 20th century
The synopsis
The son of Motilal Nehru, a prominent lawyer and Indian nationalist, Jawaharlal Nehru was educated in England—at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge, and trained in the law at the Inner Temple. He became a barrister, returned to India, enrolled at the Allahabad High Court and gradually became interested in national politics, which eventually became a full-time occupation. He joined the Indian National Congress, rose to become the leader of a progressive faction during the 1920s, and eventually of the Congress, receiving the support of Mahatma Gandhi, who was to designate Nehru as his political heir. As Congress president in 1929, Nehru called for complete independence from the British Raj.
The works
Letters from a Father to His Daughter
An Autobiography
The Discovery of India
The quotes
Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.
Action to be effective must be directed to clearly conceived ends.
Democracy is good. I say this because other systems are worse.
Every little thing counts in a crisis.
The person who talks most of his own virtue is often the least virtuous.
There is perhaps nothing so bad and so dangerous in life as fear.
The only alternative to coexistence is codestruction.
Without peace, all other dreams vanish and are reduced to ashes.
The forces in a capitalist society, if left unchecked, tend to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.
Failure comes only when we forget our ideals and objectives and principles.
Let us be a little humble; let us think that the truth may not perhaps be entirely with us.
A theory must be tempered with reality.
Obviously, the highest type of efficiency is that which can utilize existing material to the best advantage.
The purely agitational attitude is not good enough for a detailed consideration of a subject.
The person who runs away exposes himself to that very danger more than a person who sits quietly.
To be in good moral condition requires at least as much training as to be in good physical condition.
Crises and deadlocks when they occur have at least this advantage, that they force us to think.
A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action.
What we really are matters more than what other people think of us.
Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.
Life is like a game of cards. The hand you are dealt is determinism; the way you play it is free will.
You don't change the course of history by turning the faces of portraits to the wall.
Ignorance is always afraid of change.
Socialism is... not only a way of life, but a certain scientific approach to social and economic problems.
Our chief defect is that we are more given to talking about things than to doing them.
Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves.
I have become a queer mixture of the East and the West, out of place everywhere, at home nowhere.
The man who has gotten everything he wants is all in favor of peace and order.
Facts are facts and will not disappear on account of your likes.
Great causes and little men go ill together.
The art of a people is a true mirror to their minds.
We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.
Action itself, so long as I am convinced that it is right action, gives me satisfaction.
A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new; when an age ends; and when the soul of a nation long suppressed finds utterance.
Citizenship consists in the service of the country.
It is the habit of every aggressor nation to claim that it is acting on the defensive.
Loyal and efficient work in a great cause, even though it may not be immediately recognized, ultimately bears fruit.
It is only too easy to make suggestions and later try to escape the consequences of what we say.
The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.