“Defeats are always pitiful. Victories are always last resources.”

I have certain objectives. They’re the same objectives my father had to give people a higher standard of living, to do away with the cancer of poverty, to eliminate the consequences of economic backwardness.

The meek may one day inherit the earth, but not the headlines.

in today’s world no country can be absolutely independent of another. It is a world of interdependence.

Until the day she died, my mother continued to fight for the rights of women. She joined all the women’s movements of the time; she stirred up a lot of revolts. She was a great woman, a great figure. Women today would like her immensely.

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

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

Without courage, you cannot practice any other virtue. You have to have courage – courage of different kinds: first, intellectual courage, to sort out different values and make up your mind about which is the one which is right for you to follow.

Every democratic system evolves its own conventions. It is not only the water but the banks which make the river.

I fall in love with anything I do and I always try to do it well.

Life is always full of dangers and I don’t think one should avoid dangers.

I was a perfect housewife. Being a mother has always been the job I liked best. Absolutely.

Life is a continuous process of adjustment.

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

To me the function of politics is to make possible the desirable.

Let’s not forget that in India the symbol of strength is a woman; the goddess Shakti.

Ability is not always gauged by examination.

If we are a good team and know what we want to do, one of us can defeat ten of them.

It is very easy to defeat someone, but it is very hard to win someone.

The experience of the self is always a defeat for the ego.

No man is defeated without until he has first been defeated within.

Everyone wants to learn how to win, but no one wants to learn how to accept defeat.

Vulnerability is not knowing victory or defeat, it’s understanding the necessity of both; it’s engaging. It’s being all in.

Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat.

When you find your path, you must not be afraid. You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes. Disappointment, defeat, and despair are the tools God uses to show us the way.