“How can anybody who is the head of a nation afford not to be a prag-matist?”

There is not love where there is no will.

My father was a saint. I’m not.

It is our duty to create a social milieu in which the young and the socially weak feel that the present and future belong to them.

The old need the company of the young so that they renew their contact with life.

To become capable, one must have faith in oneself.

It’s not right to say that my father influenced me more than others, and I wouldn’t be able to say whether my personality was formed more by my father or my mother or the Mahatma [Gandhi] or the friends who were with us.

To be a mother, a housewife, never cost me any sacrifice – I savored every minute of those years.

Every new experience brings its own maturity and a greater clarity of vision.

In all communities you find groups that behave badly. But you must understand them too.

Martyrdom does not end something, it only a beginning.

Whenever you take a step forward, you are bound to disturb something.

That’s always been my philosophy. – I’ve never thought of the consequences of a necessary action.

I’ve never understood women who, because of their children, pose as victims and don’t allow themselves any other activities.

Education is a liberating force, and in our age it is also a democratizing force, cutting across the barriers of caste and class, smoothing out inequalities imposed by birth and other circumstances.

Women sometimes go too far, it’s true. But it’s only when you go too far that others listen.

My theory is that men are no more liberated than women.

The privileged classes today are bothered about petrol and diesel prices while the poor can’t afford two meals a day. I am a very small person, but I want us to think beyond personal and regional interests.

I’m like, ‘Yeah, I could afford braces, but why should I change myself to be what everybody else wants me to be when I’m OK with who I am and I’m happy with who I am?’

When I was a kid in Houston, we were so poor we couldn’t afford the last 2 letters, so we called ourselves po’.

Hypocrisy can afford to be magnificent in its promises, for never intending to go beyond promise, it costs nothing.

Middle class America is acutely aware of how bad this economy is, and it is going to demand changes. I don’t think politicians can afford to be complacent.

When we make college more affordable, we make the American dream more achievable.

He who has nothing to lose can afford all risks.

In my early years, there were a number of experiences that made me decide I could not afford the luxury of just being an actress. There were a number of issues I wanted to address. And I wanted to use my career as a platform.