--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nonviolence is not merely a personal…" description: "\"Nonviolence is not merely a personal virtue. It is also a social virtue to be cultivated like other virtues.\" — Mahatma Gandhi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35a/mahatma-gandhi-23_character_nonviolence-is-not-merely-a-personal-vir_1831290.jpg" --- # Nonviolence is not merely a personal virtue. It is also a… ![“Nonviolence is not merely a personal virtue. It is also a social virtue to be cultivated like other virtues.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35a/mahatma-gandhi-23_character_nonviolence-is-not-merely-a-personal-vir_1831290.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35a/mahatma-gandhi-23_character_nonviolence-is-not-merely-a-personal-vir_1831290.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/35a/mahatma-gandhi-23_character_nonviolence-is-not-merely-a-personal-vir_1831290.jpg) > “Nonviolence is not merely a personal virtue. It is also a social virtue to be cultivated like other virtues.” [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. Non‑violence is both personal and social virtue, requiring collective cultivation like any other moral quality. **In simple terms:** Non‑violence is a shared virtue. Key Takeaway Cultivate non‑violence together. Themes peace virtue social responsibility Mood hopeful determined Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - activism - education - community building - conflict mediation Key Concepts Moral philosophy collective action Questions to Reflect On - How can societies nurture non‑violence? - What supports reinforce it? A Different Perspective Non‑violence can be perceived as weakness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Nonviolence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonviolence/) [Nonviolence Merely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonviolence-merely-2275886/) [Peacebuilding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peacebuilding/) [Personal Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personal-virtue-767599/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-virtue-2275887/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Virtues](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtues/) ## Related quotes > [The Attainment of freedom, whether for a person, a nation or a world, must be in exact proportion to the attainment of nonviolence for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-attainment-of-freedom-whether-for-a-person-a-nation-or-a-world/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I hold that without truth and nonviolence there can be nothing but destruction of humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-that-without-truth-and-nonviolence-there-can-be-nothing-but/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [We become Godlike to the extent we realize nonviolence, but we can never become wholly God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/we-become-godlike-to-the-extent-we-realize-nonviolence-but-we-can/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The man or the woman who can display the nonviolence of the brave can easily stand against as external invasion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-man-or-the-woman-who-can-display-the-nonviolence-of-the-brave-can/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Truth stands for the fact, nonviolence negates the fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/truth-stands-for-the-fact-nonviolence-negates-the-fact/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Nonviolence is not an easy thing to understand, still less to practice, weak as we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nonviolence-is-not-an-easy-thing-to-understand-still-less-to-practice/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [It is much more difficult to live for nonviolence than to die for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-is-much-more-difficult-to-live-for-nonviolence-than-to-die-for-it/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Nonviolence is the rock on which the whole structure of non-co-operation is built.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nonviolence-is-the-rock-on-which-the-whole-structure-of-non-co/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [When you want to find Truth as God, the only inevitable means is love, that is nonviolence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/when-you-want-to-find-truth-as-god-the-only-inevitable-means-is-love/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The cry for peace will be a cry in the wilderness, so long as the spirit of nonviolence does not dominate millions of men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-cry-for-peace-will-be-a-cry-in-the-wilderness-so-long-as-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Nonviolence in the sense of mere non-killing does not appear to me, therefore, to be of any improvement on the technique of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nonviolence-in-the-sense-of-mere-non-killing-does-not-appear-to-me/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [True nonviolence is mightier than the mightiest violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/true-nonviolence-is-mightier-than-the-mightiest-violence/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The first condition of nonviolence is justice all round, in every department of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-first-condition-of-nonviolence-is-justice-all-round-in-every/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Every moment of my existence is dedicated to the winning of Swaraj by means of truth and nonviolence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/every-moment-of-my-existence-is-dedicated-to-the-winning-of-swaraj-by/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/we-may-never-be-strong-enough-to-be-entirely-nonviolent-in-thought/) [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 Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. 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You better know what she would do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hudgins/when-you-re-on-a-daytime-drama-you-get-one-page-you-better-damn-well/) [David Hudgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hudgins/) > [It can sometimes make people fold into themselves and kind of run away, but I think in this case these characters are being forced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-deschanel/it-can-sometimes-make-people-fold-into-themselves-and-kind-of-run/) [Emily Deschanel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-deschanel/) > [If you are well-mannered towards those whose views are similar to yours, you may be said to exhibit a fairly good character. But, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-are-well-mannered-towards-those-whose-views-are-similar-to/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Democracy is based on the conviction that man has the moral and intellectual capacity, as well as the inalienable right, to govern himself with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-s-truman/democracy-is-based-on-the-conviction-that-man-has-the-moral-and/) [Harry S. 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