By Yajush Gupta

Quotes can have a powerful impact on our thought process. Not only a single quote can be a powerful source of reflection and introspection, it also helps us convey a message in an efficient way. Here we bring some thought provoking quotes by great men and women.

"I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested,but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death."

– Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was a South African ,revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism

or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?"
-Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India,popularly known as the Bapu

"Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about
momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent
peace."
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American Baptist minister and the leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

Members of India's diaspora, living in distant lands of the world, my good wishes to all of you. You may be far away from India, but you are always close to our hearts.
–Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who was the 10th Prime Minister of India

"This is my simple religion. No need for temples. No need for complicated philosophy. Your own mind, your own heart is the temple. Your philosophy is simple kindness."

-Dalai Lama XIV

Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people.

"Forget not that the grossest crime is to compromise with injustice and wrong. Remember the eternal law: you must give, if you want to get."

-Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose, affectionately called as Netaji, was one of the most prominent leaders of Indian freedom struggle

"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense."

― Gautama Buddha

Gautama Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama, Shakyamuni Buddha, or simply the Buddha, was an ascetic and sage on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.

"Religion must mainly be a matter of principles only. It cannot be a matter of rules. The moment it degenerates into rules, it ceases to be a religion, as it kills responsibility which is an essence of the true religious act."

-B. R. Ambedkar

Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer who inspired the Dalit Buddhist movement and campaigned against social discrimination

"If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher."

– A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who served as India's president from 2002 to 2007

"You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul."

-Swami vivekanand

Swami Vivekananda Bengali was an Indian Hindu monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna

"Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark."

-Rabindra Nath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali polymath who reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

-Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States

Isaac newton wikimedia.commons

"I can calculate the motion of heavenly bodies but not the madness of people."

― Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist and mathematician who is widely recognised as one of the most influential scientists of all time and a key figure in the scientific revolution.

"The sword of revolution is sharpened on the whetting stone of ideas"

-Bhagat Singh in court during his trial

Bhagat Singh was an Indian revolutionary socialist who was influential in the Indian independence movement.

Yajush Gupta is an intern at NewsGram. Twitter @yajush_gupta