A
great man is different from an eminent one in that
he is ready to be the servant of the society.
A people and their religion must be judged by social
standards based on social ethics. No other standard
would have any meaning if religion is held to be
necessary good for the well-being of the people.
Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of
human existence.
Every man who repeats the dogma of Mill that one
country is no fit to rule another country must admit
that one class is not fit to rule another class.
For a successful revolution it is not enough that
there is discontent. What is required is a profound
and thorough conviction of the justice, necessity
and importance of political and social rights.
History shows that where ethics and economics come
in conflict, victory is always with economics.
Vested interests have never been known to have
willingly divested themselves unless there was
sufficient force to compel them.
I like the religion that teaches liberty, equality
and fraternity.
I measure the progress of a community by the degree
of progress which women have achieved.
In Hinduism, conscience, reason and independent
thinking have no scope for development.
Indians today are governed by two different
ideologies. Their political ideal set in the
preamble of the Constitution affirms a life of
liberty, equality and fraternity. Their social ideal
embodied in their religion denies them.
Law and order are the medicine of the body politic
and when the body politic gets sick, medicine must
be administered.
Life should be great rather than long.
Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs
propagation as much as a plant needs watering.
Otherwise both will wither and die.
Political tyranny is nothing compared to the social
tyranny and a reformer who defies society is a more
courageous man than a politician who defies
Government.
Religion must mainly be a matter of principles only.
It cannot be a matter of rules. The moment it
degenerates into rules, it ceases to be a religion,
as it kills responsibility which is an essence of
the true religious act.
So long as you do not achieve social liberty,
whatever freedom is provided by the law is of no
avail to you.
The relationship between husband and wife should be
one of closest friends.
The sovereignty of scriptures of all religions must
come to an end if we want to have a united
integrated modern India.
Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when
it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in
the society in which he lives. Man's life is
independent. He is born not for the development of
the society alone, but for the development of his
self.
We are Indians, firstly and lastly.
What are we having this liberty for? We are having
this liberty in order to reform our social system,
which is full of inequality, discrimination and
other things, which conflict with our fundamental
rights.
Dr. B.R
Ambedkar
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