Indira Gandhi

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

— Indira Gandhi

You said, 'How is it possible for democracy to work with an illiterate people who are dying of hunger?' But with that…

— Indira Gandhi

When you govern a country, and especially a country so vast and complex as India, you never arrive at anything.

— Indira Gandhi

On the one hand, the rich look askance at our continuing poverty - on the other, they warn us against their own…

— Indira Gandhi

I refuse to indulge in small talk. And compliments, if at all, I save for after the job is done.

— Indira Gandhi

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

— Indira Gandhi

We couldn't be everywhere, we couldn't see everything, and it was inevitable that some things would escape us.

— Indira Gandhi

... where does strength come from? It is not muscle strength any more. It is not also mere intellectual strength. What is…

— Indira Gandhi

Without peace there can be no prosperity for any people, rich or poor. And yet, there can be no peace without erasing…

— Indira Gandhi

I've never turned to anybody for advice and counsel. Even when I was a very small child, I had to stand on…

— Indira Gandhi

Naturally, if the Americans had fired a shot, if the Seventh Fleet had done something more than sit there in the Bay…

— Indira Gandhi

I always defended my father, as a child, and I think I'm still defending him - his policies at least. Oh, he…

— Indira Gandhi

We do not wish to impoverish the environment any further, and yet we cannot for a moment forget the grim poverty of…

— Indira Gandhi

People often ask me: Who has influenced you the most? Your father? Mahatma Gandhi? Yes, my choices were fundamentally influenced by them,…

— Indira Gandhi

If by happiness you mean ecstasy ... Yes, I've known ecstasy, and it's a blessing to be able to say it because…

— Indira Gandhi

My father was prime minister, and to take care of his home, to be his hostess, automatically meant to have my hands…

— Indira Gandhi

This is also something I've learned from experience. Didn't they perhaps give us the vote because we went too far?

— Indira Gandhi

I examine the consequences later, when a new situation arises and I then face the new situation. And that's it.

— Indira Gandhi

India wants to avoid a war at all costs but it is not a one-sided affair, you cannot shake hands with a…

— Indira Gandhi

Not only Negroes and Jews, but also women are part of a great revolt of which one can only approve.

— Indira Gandhi

At no point, at a very important point: that of having convinced the Indians that they can do things.

— Indira Gandhi

I would like to ask a question. Would this sort of war or savage bombing which has taken place in Vietnam have…

— Indira Gandhi

I don't care if I remain prime minister. I'm only interested in doing a good job as long as I'm capable and…

— Indira Gandhi

In any case, I married Feroze Gandhi. Once I get an idea in my head, no one in the world can make…

— Indira Gandhi

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

— Indira Gandhi

I don't know how to put on an act; I always show myself for what I am, in whatever mood I'm in.

— Indira Gandhi

We have believed - and we do believe now - that freedom is indivisible, that peace is indivisible, that economic prosperity is…

— Indira Gandhi

The sterilization of men is one method of birth control. The surest, most radical method. To you it seems dreadful. To me…

— Indira Gandhi

I began to travel by myself, in Europe, when I was eight years old. At that age I was already on the…

— Indira Gandhi

At first people asked us, 'Can you do it?' And we kept silent because we didn't believe in ourselves, we didn't believe…

— Indira Gandhi

I have certain objectives. They're the same objectives my father had to give people a higher standard of living, to do away…

— Indira Gandhi

Politics...You see, it depends on what kind of politics. What we did during my father's generation was a duty. And it was…

— Indira Gandhi

All unprejudiced persons objectively surveying the grim events in Bangla Desh since March 25 have recognized the revolt of 75 million people,…

— Indira Gandhi

However, the treaty exists and it puts us in a different position toward the Soviet Union than the one we have toward…

— Indira Gandhi

I had many dolls. And you know how I played with them? By performing insurrections, assemblies, scenes of arrest. My dolls were…

— Indira Gandhi

What good does it do to remain tied to an ideology if you don't achieve anything by it? I have an ideology…

— Indira Gandhi

I suspected [Richard Nixon] was very pro-Pakistan. Or rather I knew that the Americans had always been in favor of Pakistan -…

— Indira Gandhi

I had recently had the impression they were changing - not so much by becoming less pro-Pakistan as by becoming less anti-India.…

— Indira Gandhi

In India's distant past, when the population was low, the blessing given a woman was, 'May you have many children.' Most of…

— Indira Gandhi

Do you know why I won the last elections? It was because the people liked me, yes, because I had worked, yes,…

— Indira Gandhi