--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We cannot have real independence unless…" description: "\"We cannot have real independence unless the people banish the touch-me-not spirit from their hearts.\" — Mahatma Gandhi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/mahatma-gandhi-23_banish_we-cannot-have-real-independence-unless_2933282.jpg" --- # We cannot have real independence unless the people banish… ![“We cannot have real independence unless the people banish the touch-me-not spirit from their hearts.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/mahatma-gandhi-23_banish_we-cannot-have-real-independence-unless_2933282.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/mahatma-gandhi-23_banish_we-cannot-have-real-independence-unless_2933282.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/mahatma-gandhi-23_banish_we-cannot-have-real-independence-unless_2933282.jpg) > “We cannot have real independence unless the people banish the touch-me-not spirit from their hearts.” [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 independence requires banishing timidity from hearts. **In simple terms:** Freedom needs courage, not fear. Key Takeaway Cultivate bravery for true liberty. Themes independence courage spirit self‑empowerment freedom Mood inspirational determined Type political philosophical When to use this quote - personal development - social movements - leadership - civic engagement Key Concepts philosophy political activism Questions to Reflect On - What fears hold you back? - How can you foster collective courage? A Different Perspective Fear can persist despite ideals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Banish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banish/) [Banish Touch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banish-touch-4335114/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Independence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/independence/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Banish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-banish-4335113/) [Real](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real/) [Real Independence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/real-independence-2573446/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Touch me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/touch-me/) [Untouchability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/untouchability/) ## Related quotes > [When real independence comes to India, the Congress and the League will be nowhere unless they represent the real opinion of the country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/when-real-independence-comes-to-india-the-congress-and-the-league/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The greatest help you can give me is to banish fear from your hearts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-greatest-help-you-can-give-me-is-to-banish-fear-from-your-hearts/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The removal of untouchability is a question of the purification of Hinduism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-removal-of-untouchability-is-a-question-of-the-purification-of/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [In my day, the only people who achieved real independence were my father, Mary Pickford and Charles Chaplin, who, with D. W. Griffith, formed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-fairbanks-jr/in-my-day-the-only-people-who-achieved-real-independence-were-my/) [Douglas Fairbanks, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-fairbanks-jr/) > [Those who really value Ukrainian sovereignty should opt for real independence and a positive neutrality: neither a plaything of the West nor Moscow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ali/those-who-really-value-ukrainian-sovereignty-should-opt-for-real/) [Tariq Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ali/) > [I don't want to be any more interesting than I am. I love the life that I get to live, which is one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-williams/i-don-t-want-to-be-any-more-interesting-than-i-am-i-love-the-life/) [Allison Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-williams/) > [For me there is a vital connection between the Bihar calamity and the untouchability campaign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/for-me-there-is-a-vital-connection-between-the-bihar-calamity-and-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Anger, lust and such other evil passions raging in the heart are the real untouchables.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/anger-lust-and-such-other-evil-passions-raging-in-the-heart-are-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [We are too near the scene of tragedy to realize that this canker or untouchability has traveled far beyond its prescribed limits and has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/we-are-too-near-the-scene-of-tragedy-to-realize-that-this-canker-or/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Hinduism dies if untouchability lives, and untouchability has to die if Hinduism is to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/hinduism-dies-if-untouchability-lives-and-untouchability-has-to-die/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [No stone should be left unturned to bring home to the family members that untouchability is a sin and a blot on Hinduism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-stone-should-be-left-unturned-to-bring-home-to-the-family-members/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Untouchability is a hydra-headed monster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/untouchability-is-a-hydra-headed-monster/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [A true man of piety will consider himself a sinner and, therefore, untouchable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/a-true-man-of-piety-will-consider-himself-a-sinner-and-therefore/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Untouchability of foreign cloth is as much a virtue with all of us as untouchability of the suppressed classes must be a sin with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/untouchability-of-foreign-cloth-is-as-much-a-virtue-with-all-of-us-as/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-unity-of-government-which-constitutes-you-one-people-is-also-now/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) ## 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 Banish quotes > [“If you banish the dragons, you banish the heroes...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-solomon/if-you-banish-the-dragons-you-banish-the-heroes/) [Andrew Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-solomon/) > [All of us should banish hateful communications and practice civility for differences of opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/all-of-us-should-banish-hateful-communications-and-practice-civility/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) > [It is impossible for a lover of cats to banish these alert, gentle, and discriminating friends, who give us just enough of their regard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agnes-repplier/it-is-impossible-for-a-lover-of-cats-to-banish-these-alert-gentle-and/) [Agnes Repplier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agnes-repplier/) > [“The only way to banish temptation is to give in to it," the saying went.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-sex/the-only-way-to-banish-temptation-is-to-give-in-to-it-the-saying-went/) [Nikki Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-sex/) > [ “\[T\]he right way to pray is not to beg, but to picture good things, to banish all bad things from our mind.” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-wells/t-he-right-way-to-pray-is-not-to-beg-but-to-picture-good-things-to/) [Rebecca Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-wells/) > [Named must your fear be before banish it you can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/named-must-your-fear-be-before-banish-it-you-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I could remake the world, I'd banish women, send them away with all their trouble. Then children would come from a purer source.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/if-i-could-remake-the-world-i-d-banish-women-send-them-away-with-all/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [I have my FaceBook. And if you're naughty, I'll banish you from my kingdom on there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chasey-lain/i-have-my-facebook-and-if-you-re-naughty-i-ll-banish-you-from-my/) [Chasey Lain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chasey-lain/) > [And why not death rather than living torment? To die is to be banish'd from myself; And Silvia is myself: banish'd from her Is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/and-why-not-death-rather-than-living-torment-to-die-is-to-be-banish-d/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Welcome Beauty, banish fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francesca-lia-block/welcome-beauty-banish-fear/) [Francesca Lia Block](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francesca-lia-block/) > [If there is one thing which I would banish from the earth it is fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ford/if-there-is-one-thing-which-i-would-banish-from-the-earth-it-is-fear/) [Henry Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ford/) > [I go in solitude, so as not to drink out of everybody's cistern. When I am among the many I live as the many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-go-in-solitude-so-as-not-to-drink-out-of-everybody-s-cistern-when-i/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Banish Air from Air Divide Light if you dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-dickinson/banish-air-from-air-divide-light-if-you-dare/) [Emily Dickinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-dickinson/) > [“I might here find the magic word of power to banish the demon and set me free, so that I should no longer be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/i-might-here-find-the-magic-word-of-power-to-banish-the-demon-and-set/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Where love could walk with banish'd Hope no more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/where-love-could-walk-with-banish-d-hope-no-more/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) [Browse all 42 Banish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We cannot have real independence unless the people banish the touch-me-not spirit from their hearts.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mahatma Gandhi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/we-cannot-have-real-independence-unless-the-people-banish-the-touch/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Banish" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/we-cannot-have-real-independence-unless-the-people-banish-the-touch/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/mahatma-gandhi-23_banish_we-cannot-have-real-independence-unless_2933282.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/mahatma-gandhi-23_banish_we-cannot-have-real-independence-unless_2933282.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c2/mahatma-gandhi-23_banish_we-cannot-have-real-independence-unless_2933282.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We cannot have real independence unless the people banish the touch-me-not spirit from their hearts.” — 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": "We cannot have real independence unless...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/we-cannot-have-real-independence-unless-the-people-banish-the-touch/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/we-cannot-have-real-independence-unless-the-people-banish-the-touch/#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 } } ] } ```