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In All Communities You Find Groups That Behave Badly. But You Must Understand Them Too.
-Indira Gandhi
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In All Communities You

Indira Gandhi
...
In All Communities You Find Groups That Behave Badly. But You Must Understand Them Too.

Understanding the Quote: "in all communities you find groups that behave badly. but you must..."

This quote by Indira Gandhi reflects deeply on the theme of community. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Community, Groups, Behave, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Indira Gandhi interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi is celebrated for insightful thoughts on community and groups. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Community
Groups
Behave
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When One Has Had A Life As Difficult As Mine, One Doesn't Worry About How Others Will React.
Worry
Difficult
Mines
Mahatma Gandhi Was Always Talking Of Religion...he Was Convinced That Was Right...the Fact Is, We Young People Didn't Agree With Him On Many Things.
Talking
People
Facts
One Day In 1965 Rajiv Wrote Me From London, Where He Was Studying, And Informed Me, 'you're Always Asking Me About Girls, Whether I Have A Special Girl, And So Forth. Well, I've Met A Special Girl.' And When Rajiv Returned To India, I Asked Him, 'do You Still Think About Her In The Same Way?' And He Said Yes. But She Couldn't Get Married Until She Was Twenty-one, And Until She Was Sure She'd Like To Live In India. Sonia Is Almost Completely An Indian By Now, Even Though She Doesn't Always Wear Saris.
Girl
Thinking
One Day
A Revolution Is Already Taking Place In India. Things Are Changing Here Already - Peacefully And Democratically. There's No Danger Of Communism. There Would Be If We Had A Rightist Government Instead Of Mine.
Government
Revolution
India
I Want To State That There Will Be Friendship Between Bangladesh And Ourselves. And Not A One-sided Friendship, Of Course - No One Does Anything For Nothing; Each Has Something To Give And Something To Take.
Giving
Doe
Want
[mahatma Gandhi] Said That The First President Of India Ought To Be A Harijan Girl, An Untouchable. He Was So Against The Class System And The Oppression Of Women That An Untouchable Woman Became For Him The Epitome Of Purity And Benediction.
Girl
Class System
President
For Me It's Absolutely The Same - I Treat One And The Other In Exactly The Same Way. As Persons, That Is, Not As Men And Women. But, Even Here, You Have To Consider The Fact That I've Had A Very Special Education, That I'm The Daughter Of A Man Like My Father And A Woman Like My Mother.
Daughter
Mother
Father
The Indians And Pakistanis Are Literally Brothers.
Brother
I'm Trained To Difficulties; Difficulties Can't Be Eliminated From Life.
Difficulty
I Have Certain Objectives. They're The Same Objectives My Father Had To Give People A Higher Standard Of Living, To Do Away With The Cancer Of Poverty, To Eliminate The Consequences Of Economic Backwardness.
Father
Cancer
People
How Is It Possible For People In The Modern World To Go On Killing Each Other For Religion? The Problems We Should Be Concerned With Nowadays Are Quite Different!
People
Different
Goes On
I Refuse To Indulge In Small Talk. And Compliments, If At All, I Save For After The Job Is Done.
Jobs
Indulge In
Done
I Had Many Dolls. And You Know How I Played With Them? By Performing Insurrections, Assemblies, Scenes Of Arrest. My Dolls Were Almost Never Babies To Be Nursed But Men And Women Who Attacked Barracks And Ended Up In Prison.
Baby
Men
Dolls
Finally We Promised To Limit The Birth Rate. And This You Really Didn't Believe; You Smiled Scornfully. Well, Even In This Things Have Gone Well. The Fact Is That We Have Grown By Over Seventy Millions In Ten Years, But It's Also True That We Have Grown Less Than Many Other Countries, Including The Countries Of Europe.
Country
Believe
Years
Even Under The British There Were Hostile Groups. There Were Clashes. But, As We Found Out Later, These Were Clashes Provoked By Those Who Had No Wish To Let Us Live Together - On The Eve Of The Partition. The Policy Of Keeping Us Divided Was Always Followed By Foreigners, Even After The Partition. If Indians And Pakistanis Had Been Together...i Don't Say As Confederated Countries But As Neighboring And Friendly Countries...like Italy And France, For Example ...believe Me, Both Of Us Would Have Progressed Much Further.
Country
Believe
Wish
Poverty Assumes So Many Aspects Here In India. There Aren't Only The Poor That You See In The Cities, There Are The Poor Among The Tribes, The Poor Who Live In The Forest, The Poor Who Live On The Mountains. Should We Ignore Them As Long As The Poor In The Cities Are Better Off? And Better Off With Reference To What? To What People Wanted Ten Years Ago? Then It Seemed Like So Much. Today It's No Longer So Much.
Years
Cities
Long
You've Never Been Very Generous, You Westerners, Toward Us Indians. You Should Have Seen That Things Were Changing, Albeit Slowly. You Should Have Seen That Something Was Happening. Not Much, But Something.
Should Have
Westerners
Happenings
It Would Seem That It Was Not In The Interest Of 'someone' For Us To Make Progress. It Was In 'someone's' Interest That We Be Always At War, That We Tear Each Other To Pieces. Yes, I'm Inclined To Absolve The Pakistanis. How Should They Have Behaved? Someone Encouraged Them To Attack Us, Someone Gave Them Weapons To Attack Us. And They Attacked Us.
War
Progress
Tears
Every Democratic System Evolves Its Own Conventions. It Is Not Only The Water But The Banks Which Make The River.
Women
Rivers
Water
In India's Distant Past, When The Population Was Low, The Blessing Given A Woman Was, 'may You Have Many Children.' Most Of Our Epics And Literature Stress This Wish, And The Idea That A Woman Should Have Many Children Hasn't Declined.
Children
Stress
Epic
I've Never Understood Women Who, Because Of Their Children, Pose As Victims And Don't Allow Themselves Any Other Activities.
Children
Victim
Understood
I Was A Perfect Housewife. Being A Mother Has Always Been The Job I Liked Best. Absolutely.
Mother
Jobs
Perfect
Ability Is Not Always Gauged By Examination.
Examination
Ability
Every New Experience Brings Its Own Maturity And A Greater Clarity Of Vision.
Maturity
New Experiences
Vision
My Father Was A Statesman, I'm A Political Woman. My Father Was A Saint. I'm Not.
Father
Political
Saint
Now I Don't Get Upset By Unpleasant Things, I Don't Play The Victim, And I'm Always Ready To Come To Terms With Life.
Play
Upset
Victim
Let's Not Forget That In India The Symbol Of Strength Is A Woman; The Goddess Shakti.
India
Forget
Goddess
The Fact That I Have An Ideology, However, Doesn't Mean I'm Indoctrinated.
Mean
Facts
Ideology
[visiting Richard Nixon] Useful Only To Me. The Experience Taught Me That When People Do Something Against You, That Something Always Turns Out In Your Favor.
People
Favors
Taught
As For The Job Of Prime Minister, I Like It, Yes. But No More Than I've Liked Other Work That I've Done As An Adult.
Jobs
Done
Adults
Maybe I Would Have Considered The Problem If I'd Met Someone With Whom I'd Have Liked To Live. But I Never Met This Someone And... No, Even If I Had Met Him, I'm Sure I Wouldn't Have Got Married Again. Why Should I Get Married Now That My Life Is So Full? No, No, It's Out Of The Question.
Married
Problem
Life Is
[my Mother] Was The Oldest Of Two Sisters And Two Brothers, And She Grew Up With Her Brothers, Who Were About Her Age. She Grew Up, To The Age Of Ten, Like A Wild Colt, And Then All Of A Sudden That Was Over. They Had Forced On Her Her 'woman's Destiny' By Saying, 'this Isn't Done, This Isn't Good, This Isn't Worthy Of A Lady.'
Mother
Brother
Destiny
They're The Problems Of Poverty, Of The Rights Of The Individual, Of The Changes Brought About By Technology. They're The Ones That Count, More Than Religion!
Technology
Rights
Poverty
People Tend To Forget Their Duties But Remember Their Rights.
Rights
People
Political Games
Nowadays You Can No Longer Let Yourself Be Indoctrinated - The World Is Changing So Fast! Even What You Wanted Twenty Years Ago Is No Longer Relevant Today; It's Outdated.
Years
Twenties
World
A Nation' S Strength Ultimately Consists In What It Can Do On Its Own, And Not In What It Can Borrow From Others.
Strength
Freedom
Debt
Sometimes We Hurt One Another Without Realizing It.
Hurt
Sometimes
Realizing
The Western Press Has Always Insisted That India Was Pakistan's Enemy And Vice Versa, That The Hindus Were Against The Muslims And Vice Versa. They've Never Said, For Instance, That My Party Has Been Fighting This Attitude Ever Since We Have Maintained That Religious Hostilities Are Wrong And Absurd, That Minorities Cannot Be Eliminated From A Country, That People Of Different Religions Must Live Together.
Country
Religious
Attitude
I've Always Discovered Things For Myself, In Marvelous Freedom.
Marvelous
I Think I'm Cold, Indeed Icy, Hard. Then There's Another Reason, One That Goes With My Frankness: I Don't Put On Act.
Thinking
Icy
Cold
I Said That My Father Was Not A Politician. I, Instead, Think I Am. But Not In The Sense Of Being Interested In A Political Career - Rather In The Sense That I Think It Necessary To Strive To Build A Certain India, The India I Want.
Father
Thinking
Careers
To Bear Many Children Is Considered Not Only A Religious Blessing But Also An Investment. The Greater Their Number, Some Indians Reason, The More Alms They Can Beg.
Religious
Children
Blessing
Life Is A Continuous Process Of Adjustment.
Life
Life Is
Process
Difficulties Can't Be Eliminated From Life. Individuals Will Always Have Them, Countries Will Always Have Them...the Only Thing Is To Accept Them, If Possible Overcome Them, Otherwise To Come To Terms With Them. It's All Right To Fight, Yes, But Only When It's Possible.
Country
Fighting
Overcoming
You Found An Uncle On One Side And A Nephew On The Other, A Cousin Here And A Cousin There. Besides It's Still True Today. I'll Tell You Something Else. There Was A Time When Even Two Ambassadors To Switzerland, The One From India And The One From Pakistan, Were Two Blood Brothers. Oh, The Partition Imposed On Us By The British Was So Unnatural!
Cousin
Brother
Uncles
We Announced That There'd Be No More Starvation In India. And You Responded, 'impossible. You'll Never Succeed!' Instead We Succeeded; Today In India No One Dies Of Hunger Any More; Food Production Far Exceeds Consumption.
India
Today
Succeed
The India I Want, I'll Never Tire Of Repeating, Is A More Just And Less Poor India, One Entirely Free Of Foreign Influences. If I Thought The Country Was Already Marching Toward These Objectives, I'd Give Up Politics Immediately And Retire As Prime Minister.
Country
Giving Up
Want
Have You Ever Climbed A Mountain? You See, Once You Arrive At The Top Of A Mountain, You Think You've Reached The Highest Point. But It's Only An Impression That Doesn't Last Long.
Thinking
Long
Mountain
We Have Believed - And We Do Believe Now - That Freedom Is Indivisible, That Peace Is Indivisible, That Economic Prosperity Is Indivisible
Believe
Prosperity
Economic
Home Is Wherever I Go.
Home
Nothing That Is Worthwhile Is Ever Easy.
Easy
Message In A Bottle
Worthwhile
In The Face Of Such A Threat, They Had No Other Choice But To Throw Themselves To The Far Left. But Now That The People Are Conscious Of Our Efforts, Now That They See Us Resolving Problems, The Communists Are Losing Strength.
People
Effort
Choices
My Father Cared Very Much About Courage, Physical Courage As Well. He Despised Those Who Didn't Have It. But He Never Said To Me, 'i Want You To Be Courageous.' He Just Smiled With Pride Every Time I Did Something Difficult Or Won A Race With The Boys.
Father
Pride
Boys
I Grew Up Like A Boy, Also Because Most Of The Children Who Came To Our House Were Boys.
Children
Boys
House
You Said, 'how Is It Possible For Democracy To Work With An Illiterate People Who Are Dying Of Hunger?' But With That People We Made A Democracy Work.
People
Democracy
Dying
In Fact The Communists Gained Strength In India When The People Thought My Party Was Moving To The Right. And They Were Correct.
Party
Moving
People
My Children Needed Me, And I Like My Job As A Social Worker.
Jobs
Children
Social Worker
I Began To Associate With Mahatma Gandhi When He Came And Went In Our House - Together With My Father And Mother He Was On The Executive Committee. After Independence I Worked With Him A Lot - In The Period When There Were The Troubles Between Hindus And Muslims, He Assigned Me To Take Care Of The Muslims. To Protect Them.
Mother
Father
House
If By Religion We Mean A Belief In Humanity Rather Than The Gods, An Effort To Make Man Better And A Little Happier, Then Yes, I'm Very Religious.
Religious
Mean
Men
I Remember Harrowing Episodes. People Who Emigrated, People Who Didn't Want To Emigrate...many Muslims Didn't Want To Leave India To Go To Live In Pakistan, But The Propaganda Was That There They'd Have Greater Opportunities And So They Left. Many Hindus, On The Other Hand, Didn't Want To Stay In Pakistan, But They Had Ties There Or Property And So They Stayed.
Opportunity
Hands
Ties
Even Today To Be Civilised Is Held To Be Synonymous With Being Westernised. Advanced Countries Devote Large Resources To Formulating And Spreading Ideas And Doctrines And They Tend To Impose On The Developing Nations Their Own Norms And Methods. The Pattern Of The Classical Acquisitive Society With Its Deliberate Multiplication Of Wants Not Only Is Unsuited To Conditions In Our Countries But Is Positively Harmful.
Country
Ideas
Doctrine
As I Always Say, I Do Not Wish You An Easy Time, But I Wish You That Whatever Difficulty You May Have, You Will Overcome It.
Wish
Overcoming
May
Sometimes Friends Are Dangerous. We Must Be Very Careful About The Help Friends Give Us.
Giving
Helping
Sometimes
Whenever You Take A Step Forward, You Are Bound To Disturb Something.
Inspirational
Summer
Have Faith
The Future Doesn't Frighten Me, Even If It Threatens To Be Full Of Other Difficulties.
Difficulty
Ifs
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