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

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.

Politics is the art of acquiring, holding, and wielding power.

As my father [Javāharlāl Nehrū] said, you have to keep an open mind, but you have to pour something into it – otherwise ideas slip away like sand between your fingers.

I’m trained to difficulties; difficulties can’t be eliminated from life.

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

The future doesn’t frighten me, even if it threatens to be full of other difficulties.

Mankind will endure when the world appreciates the logic of diversity.

The purpose of life is to believe, to hope, and to strive.

I began to travel by myself, in Europe, when I was eight years old. At that age I was already on the move between India and Swizerland, Switzerland and France, France and England. Administering my own finances like an adult.

We always said that our struggle was not only against the British as representatives of colonialism, it was against all the evil that existed in India. The evil of the feudal system, the evil of the system based on caste, the evil of economic injustice.

I don’t mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die, every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation.

You don’t help a country by supporting a military regime that denies any sign of democracy, and what defeated Pakistan was its military regime.

I learned very soon to get along by myself.

I cannot understand how anyone can be an Indian and not be proud.

No matter what business you’re in, you can’t run in place or someone will pass you by. It doesn’t matter how many games you’ve won.

Movies are a whole different ball-game, now. It’s much more of a business – very scientific.

I think that the “what if” game is what you guys get to do. I don’t have to do that. I hate the “what if” game. I’m such a believer in everything happening the way it’s supposed to happen.

A contract is an ask game, and if it asks for an hour, and I submit to an hour, then it’s an hour. When I look at a contract, I look at the obligation – where, when, how long, the compensation. If I agree to it, that’s the way it is. I have an obligation. They have an obligation.

The game of life looks cheerful when one carries a treasure safe in his heart.

Playing polo is like trying to play golf during an earthquake.

Is it [hunting] really a sport if you have all the equipment and your opponent doesn’t know a game is going on?

I thought marriage was tough. Golf’s like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel! It’s a psychological game that gets into your blood.