--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is nothing but nonviolence to fall…" description: "\"There is nothing but nonviolence to fall back upon for retaining our freedom, even as we had to do for gaining it.\" — Mahatma Gandhi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/mahatma-gandhi-23_fall_there-is-nothing-but-nonviolence-to-fall_2256645.jpg" --- # There is nothing but nonviolence to fall back upon for… ![“There is nothing but nonviolence to fall back upon for retaining our freedom, even as we had to do for gaining it.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/mahatma-gandhi-23_fall_there-is-nothing-but-nonviolence-to-fall_2256645.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/mahatma-gandhi-23_fall_there-is-nothing-but-nonviolence-to-fall_2256645.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/mahatma-gandhi-23_fall_there-is-nothing-but-nonviolence-to-fall_2256645.jpg) > “There is nothing but nonviolence to fall back upon for retaining our freedom, even as we had to do for gaining it.” [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 the only reliable foundation for preserving freedom, even though it must also be used to achieve it. **In simple terms:** Non‑violence protects and secures freedom. Key Takeaway Embrace non‑violence as both shield and tool. Themes peace freedom strategy ethical action Mood hopeful determined reflective Type political philosophical When to use this quote - activist movements - conflict resolution - personal ethics - community organizing Key Concepts civil disobedience ethical philosophy political strategy Questions to Reflect On - Can non‑violence be effective against violent oppression? - What are the limits of non‑violent resistance? A Different Perspective Non‑violence can be seen as passive in urgent crises. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Nonviolence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonviolence/) [Peacebuilding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peacebuilding/) ## 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/) > [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/) > [Whilst I may not actually help anyone to retaliate, I must not let a coward seek shelter behind nonviolence so-called. Not knowing the stuff…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/whilst-i-may-not-actually-help-anyone-to-retaliate-i-must-not-let-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Nonviolent nationalism is a necessary condition of corporate or civilized life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nonviolent-nationalism-is-a-necessary-condition-of-corporate-or/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Disobedience to be civil has to be open and nonviolent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/disobedience-to-be-civil-has-to-be-open-and-nonviolent/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Himsa does not need to be taught, Man as animal is violent, but as spirit is nonviolent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/himsa-does-not-need-to-be-taught-man-as-animal-is-violent-but-as/) [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/) > [The nation cannot be kept on the nonviolent path by violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-nation-cannot-be-kept-on-the-nonviolent-path-by-violence/) [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/) > [My nonviolence does not admit of running away from danger and leaving the dear ones unprotected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-nonviolence-does-not-admit-of-running-away-from-danger-and-leaving/) [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/) > [Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/victory-attained-by-violence-is-tantamount-to-a-defeat-for-it-is/) [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/) > [A nonviolent struggle necessarily involves construction on a small scale. It cannot therefore lead to tamas or darkness or inertia.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/a-nonviolent-struggle-necessarily-involves-construction-on-a-small/) [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 Fall quotes > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. 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We shouldn't spend our time trying to avoid falling.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-williams/we-will-all-at-some-point-in-our-lives-fall-every-single-one-of-us-we/) [Nicole Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-williams/) > [I am attracted to looking at the different things language can mean even in one sometimes quite ordinary utterance. Writing is partly about listening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rae-armantrout/i-am-attracted-to-looking-at-the-different-things-language-can-mean/) [Rae Armantrout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rae-armantrout/) > [We were so poor as kids. I didn't even see a bathtub, running water, hot water, commode - we didn't have any of that.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-robertson/we-were-so-poor-as-kids-i-didn-t-even-see-a-bathtub-running-water-hot/) [Phil Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-robertson/) > [How wonderful it would be to scatter words as they rise to consciousness, to let them lie where they fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-scott/how-wonderful-it-would-be-to-scatter-words-as-they-rise-to/) [Joanna Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-scott/) > [My life is a crystal teardrop. There are snowflakes falling in the teardrop and little figures trudging in slow motion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-baez/my-life-is-a-crystal-teardrop-there-are-snowflakes-falling-in-the/) [Joan Baez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-baez/) > [Life will knock you down & it's tough, but you are strong enough. Get back up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-will-knock-you-down-it-s-tough-but-you-are-strong-enough-get/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When I was 13, I began relaxing my hair, and that meant when I turned 18 it began to crack and fall off, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soledad-o-brien/when-i-was-13-i-began-relaxing-my-hair-and-that-meant-when-i-turned/) [Soledad O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soledad-o-brien/) > [“If you ever falling but can't see the bottom be glad you can't because at the bottom it's either a soft land or rocks!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelseigh-ashton/if-you-ever-falling-but-can-t-see-the-bottom-be-glad-you-can-t/) Kelseigh Ashton > [Empires fall, ids explode, great symphonies are written, and behind all of it is a single instinct that demands satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/empires-fall-ids-explode-great-symphonies-are-written-and-behind-all/) [Sherwin B. Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) Browse all 13,401 Fall quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is nothing but nonviolence to fall back upon for retaining our freedom, even as we had to do for gaining it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mahatma Gandhi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/there-is-nothing-but-nonviolence-to-fall-back-upon-for-retaining-our/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fall" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/there-is-nothing-but-nonviolence-to-fall-back-upon-for-retaining-our/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/mahatma-gandhi-23_fall_there-is-nothing-but-nonviolence-to-fall_2256645.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/mahatma-gandhi-23_fall_there-is-nothing-but-nonviolence-to-fall_2256645.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7a/mahatma-gandhi-23_fall_there-is-nothing-but-nonviolence-to-fall_2256645.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is nothing but nonviolence to fall back upon for retaining our freedom, even as we had to do for…” — Mahatma Gandhi", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mahatma Gandhi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There is nothing but nonviolence to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/there-is-nothing-but-nonviolence-to-fall-back-upon-for-retaining-our/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/there-is-nothing-but-nonviolence-to-fall-back-upon-for-retaining-our/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```