Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon India's independence in 1947, he served as the country's first prime minister, holding office for 16 years 286 days. Nehru promoted parliamentary democracy, secularism, and science and technology during the 1950s, powerfully influencing India's arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he steered India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War. A well-regarded author, he wrote books such as Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929), An Autobiography (1936) and The Discovery of India (1946), that have been read around the world.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Most of us seldom take the trouble to think. It is a troublesome and fatiguing process and often leads to uncomfortable conclusions. But crises and deadlocks when they occur have at least this advantage, that they force us to think.”
— The Unity of India : Collected Writings, 1937-1940 (1942), p. 94
“…RSS is again resuming some of its activities…. The whole mentality of the RSS is a fascist mentality. Therefore, their activities have to be very closely watched.”
— Letters to Chief Ministers, August 1, 1949, Vol. 1, p. 428. Quoted in . “Sectional President’s Address: COMMUNAL THREAT AND SECULAR RESISTANCE.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 71, (2010-2011). Also in "After Gandhi's Assassination, Nehru Saw the Hindu Right as a Threat to the Indian State", The Wire, Jan. 30, 2023.
“I want to go rapidly towards my objective. But fundamentally even the results of action do not worry me so much. Action itself, so long as I am convinced that it is right action, gives me satisfaction. In my general outlook on life I am a socialist and it is a socialist order that I should like to see established in India and the world.”
— Statement of 1951, in Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru Vol. 5 (1987), p. 321
“Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves.”
— As quoted in Al Arab Vol. 9 (1970) by the League of Arab States, p. 9
“Without peace, all other dreams vanish and are reduced to ashes.”
— Address to the United Nations (28 August 1954); as quoted in The Macmillan Dictionary of Political Quotations (1993) by Lewis D. Eigen and Jonathan Paul Siegel, p. 698
“This man has overcome two of the greatest failings in human nature -he knows neither fear nor hatred.”
— Winston Churchill, 1949. Source: Rajiv Gandhi, ‘The Vision of Jawaharlal Nehru’, Gandhi Marg, Nov-Dec 1988, p.457

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon India's independence in 1947, he served as the country's first prime minister, holding office for 16 years 286 days. Nehru promoted parliamentary democracy, secularism, and science and technology during the 1950s, powerfully influencing India's arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he steered India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War. A well-regarded author, he wrote books such as Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929), An Autobiography (1936) and The Discovery of India (1946), that have been read around the world.

Overview

Jawaharlal Nehru was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a principal leader of the Indian nationalist movement in the 1930s and 1940s. Upon India's independence in 1947, he served as the country's first prime minister, holding office for 16 years 286 days. Nehru promoted parliamentary democracy, secularism, and science and technology during the 1950s, powerfully influencing India's arc as a modern nation. In international affairs, he steered India clear of the two blocs of the Cold War. A well-regarded author, he wrote books such as Letters from a Father to His Daughter (1929), An Autobiography (1936) and The Discovery of India (1946), that have been read around the world.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Most of us seldom take the trouble to think. It is a troublesome and fatiguing process and often leads to uncomfortable conclusions. But crises and deadlocks when they occur have at least this advantage, that they force us to think.”
— The Unity of India : Collected Writings, 1937-1940 (1942), p. 94
“…RSS is again resuming some of its activities…. The whole mentality of the RSS is a fascist mentality. Therefore, their activities have to be very closely watched.”
— Letters to Chief Ministers, August 1, 1949, Vol. 1, p. 428. Quoted in . “Sectional President’s Address: COMMUNAL THREAT AND SECULAR RESISTANCE.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, vol. 71, (2010-2011). Also in "After Gandhi's Assassination, Nehru Saw the Hindu Right as a Threat to the Indian State", The Wire, Jan. 30, 2023.
“I want to go rapidly towards my objective. But fundamentally even the results of action do not worry me so much. Action itself, so long as I am convinced that it is right action, gives me satisfaction. In my general outlook on life I am a socialist and it is a socialist order that I should like to see established in India and the world.”
— Statement of 1951, in Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru Vol. 5 (1987), p. 321
“Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves.”
— As quoted in Al Arab Vol. 9 (1970) by the League of Arab States, p. 9
“Without peace, all other dreams vanish and are reduced to ashes.”
— Address to the United Nations (28 August 1954); as quoted in The Macmillan Dictionary of Political Quotations (1993) by Lewis D. Eigen and Jonathan Paul Siegel, p. 698
“This man has overcome two of the greatest failings in human nature -he knows neither fear nor hatred.”
— Winston Churchill, 1949. Source: Rajiv Gandhi, ‘The Vision of Jawaharlal Nehru’, Gandhi Marg, Nov-Dec 1988, p.457

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

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