--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Complete non-violence is complete absence…" description: "\"Complete non-violence is complete absence of ill-will against all that lives. It therefore embraces even sub-human life, not excluding noxious insects ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/211/mahatma-gandhi-23_absence_complete-non-violence-is-complete-absenc_1188164.jpg" --- # Complete non-violence is complete absence of ill-will… ![“Complete non-violence is complete absence of ill-will against all that lives. It therefore embraces even sub-human life, not excluding noxious insects and beasts. They have not been created to feed our destructive propensities. If we only knew the mind of the Creator, we should find their proper…” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/211/mahatma-gandhi-23_absence_complete-non-violence-is-complete-absenc_1188164.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/211/mahatma-gandhi-23_absence_complete-non-violence-is-complete-absenc_1188164.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/211/mahatma-gandhi-23_absence_complete-non-violence-is-complete-absenc_1188164.jpg) > “Complete non-violence is complete absence of ill-will against all that lives. It therefore embraces even sub-human life, not excluding noxious insects and beasts. They have not been created to feed our destructive propensities. If we only knew the mind of the Creator, we should find their proper place in His creation.” [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True non‑violence means wishing no harm to any living being, even insects, recognizing all life as part of creation. **In simple terms:** Do no harm to any creature. Key Takeaway Cultivate compassion for all life forms. Themes non‑violence compassion ethics Mood reflective serious Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - gardening - diet choices - animal welfare activism - education curricula Key Concepts moral philosophy environmental stewardship Questions to Reflect On - Can we truly avoid harming all creatures? - What practical steps reduce harm in daily life? A Different Perspective Human needs sometimes conflict with absolute non‑violence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) [Animal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/animal/) [Beast](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beast/) [Creation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creation/) [Creator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creator/) [Hinduism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hinduism/) [Human life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-life/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill/) [Ill will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill-will/) [Insects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insects/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Non violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/non-violence/) [Philosophical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/philosophical/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) ## Related quotes > [True ahimsa should mean a complete freedom from ill-will and anger and hate and an overflowing love for all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/true-ahimsa-should-mean-a-complete-freedom-from-ill-will-and-anger/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Nonviolence means an ocean of compassion. It means shedding from us every trace of ill will for others. It does not mean abjectness or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nonviolence-means-an-ocean-of-compassion-it-means-shedding-from-us/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [For me patriotism is the sme as humanity. I am patriotic because I am human and humane. It is not exclusive. I will not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/for-me-patriotism-is-the-sme-as-humanity-i-am-patriotic-because-i-am/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [A clear victory of satyagraha is impossible so long as there is ill will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/a-clear-victory-of-satyagraha-is-impossible-so-long-as-there-is-ill/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Use truth as your anvil, nonviolence as your hammer and anything that does not stand the test when it is brought to the anvil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/use-truth-as-your-anvil-nonviolence-as-your-hammer-and-anything-that/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I know that in embarking on non-violence I shall be running what might be termed a mad risk. But the victories of truth have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-know-that-in-embarking-on-non-violence-i-shall-be-running-what/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Just as one must learn the art of killing in the training for violence, so one must learn the art of dying in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/just-as-one-must-learn-the-art-of-killing-in-the-training-for/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [With every true friendship we build more firmly the foundations on which the peace of the whole world rests. Thought by thought and act…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/with-every-true-friendship-we-build-more-firmly-the-foundations-on/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realizing Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/truth-is-my-god-non-violence-is-the-means-of-realizing-him/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [He who trusts has never yet lost in the world. A suspicious man is lost to himself and the eworld… Suspicion is of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/he-who-trusts-has-never-yet-lost-in-the-world-a-suspicious-man-is/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Mental violence has no potency and injures only the person whose thoughts are violent. It is otherwise with mental non-violence. It has potency which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/mental-violence-has-no-potency-and-injures-only-the-person-whose/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Non-violence ... is the only thing that the atom bomb cannot destroy. I did not move a muscle when I first heard that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/non-violence-is-the-only-thing-that-the-atom-bomb-cannot-destroy-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Violent means will give violent swaraj. That would be a menace to the world and to India herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/violent-means-will-give-violent-swaraj-that-would-be-a-menace-to-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I do believe that where there is a choice between cowardice and non-violence I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-believe-that-where-there-is-a-choice-between-cowardice-and-non/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Though I cannot claim to be a Christian in the sectarian sense, the example of Jesus suffering is a factor in the composition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/though-i-cannot-claim-to-be-a-christian-in-the-sectarian-sense-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More by Mahatma Gandhi > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Devotion required by the Gita is no soft-hearted effusiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/devotion-required-by-the-gita-is-no-soft-hearted-effusiveness/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/so-long-as-we-fear-the-outside-world-we-must-cease-to-think-of-swaraj/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I do not want a kingdom, or heaven; what I want is to remove the trouble of the oppressed, the poor, and the needy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-a-kingdom-or-heaven-what-i-want-is-to-remove-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Religions are not for separating men from one another, they are meant to bind them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/religions-are-not-for-separating-men-from-one-another-they-are-meant/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was only in South Africa that I got over this shyness, though I never completely overcame it. It was impossible for me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-was-only-in-south-africa-that-i-got-over-this-shyness-though-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Where there is life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/where-there-is-life/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [If it was wrong to seek God in a stone, how was it right to seek Him in a book called the Gita, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/if-it-was-wrong-to-seek-god-in-a-stone-how-was-it-right-to-seek-him/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-spirit-of-democracy-cannot-be-established-in-the-midst-of/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them-a desire, a dream, a vison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/champions-are-made-from-something-they-have-deep-inside-of-them-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [My motto is "Unite now, today if you can; fight if you must. But in every case avoid British intervention."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-motto-is-unite-now-today-if-you-can-fight-if-you-must-but-in-every/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I have no disciples, being myself an aspirant after discipleship and in search of a guru.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-have-no-disciples-being-myself-an-aspirant-after-discipleship-and/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Man becomes not the lord and master of all creation but he is its servant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-becomes-not-the-lord-and-master-of-all-creation-but-he-is-its/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) [Explore all 3,284 Mahatma Gandhi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More Absence quotes > [Distance sometimes endears friendship, and absence sweeteneth it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-howell/distance-sometimes-endears-friendship-and-absence-sweeteneth-it/) [James Howell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-howell/) > [The work, the work, the work. 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Jobs, family, employers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/every-person-needs-to-take-one-day-away-a-day-in-which-one/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [“I was thinking how most people don't make you feel much of anything at all. Don't make you feel like time spent with them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-lotter/i-was-thinking-how-most-people-don-t-make-you-feel-much-of-anything/) [Jane Lotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-lotter/) > [Cooperation isn't the absence of conflict but a means of managing conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-tannen/cooperation-isn-t-the-absence-of-conflict-but-a-means-of-managing/) [Deborah Tannen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-tannen/) > [Many are observing Ferguson and witnessing the anger, demonstrations, looting and vandalism and calling for quiet. But quiet isn't enough. 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Ambedkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-r-ambedkar/) [Browse all 2,057 Absence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Complete non-violence is complete absence of ill-will against all that lives. It therefore embraces even sub-human life, not excluding noxious insects and beasts. They have not been created to feed our destructive propensities. 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