“We have talked and written of Swaraj for years, but when Swaraj comes it will probably take us by surprise.”

— Jawaharlal Nehru, Soviet Russia: Some Random Sketches and Impressions (1949)

About Jawaharlal Nehru

1889 – 1964

First Prime Minister of independent India.

“The past is over and it is the future that beckons to us now.”

“Where freedom is menaced or justice threatened or where aggression takes place, we cannot be and shall not be neutral.”

“The ambition of the greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye.”

“The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.”

“The instructions of an old man are precious.”

“Old age deprives the intelligent man only of qualities useless to wisdom.”

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.”

“I call upon you, young men, to obey your heart, and be the nobility of this land.”

“The young have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations.”