Quotes for UPSC IAS MAINS Exam Part 1

Quotes for UPSC IAS MAINS Exam Part 1

Part 1

  1. Our senses provide us only data, while our knowledge comes from judgements.
  2. Descartes claimed that the only way to find objective truth is by attempting to doubt absolutely every judgement.
  3. I think. Therefore, I exist.
  4. “Your right to wing your arm stops at my nose”
  5. Love thy neighbour as thyself – Holy bible
  6. Neighbour’s envy, Owners pride – Today’s mantra. 
  7. Any virtue in its extreme form becomes a vice 
  8. Indian philosophy is Based on the idea of ‘Love thy negihbour and all beings ar your negihbour”
  9. Goals must take precedence over means where questions of human life are involved. – Amartya sen, An Idea of justice
  10. Knowledge without integrity is dangerous. Ex- Osama Bin Laden
  11. Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars- Les Brown
  12.  we don’t not have rights to the rewards to our actions actions are our sphere, fruits are not our concern
  13. Morality -in both public and private spaces is a premium in our society
  14. While in the west as a person goes higher up in position of authority, he develops respect for law , the opposite is true for our country.
  15. while the measures of effectiveness keep continuously changing, accountability is a universal and perpetual virtue in governance.
  16. Political equality results ultimately in social equality 
  17. Negative emotions dominate our life more than positive
  18. most beautiful things in life can be measured. they are immeasurable. e.g. – love, truth
  19. sound ethics makes good economics eg- if companies follow CSR, in the long run, it will get the clientele due to the goodwill it gnerate relativity applies to physics and not to ethics – Einstein
  20. ethicals standards are universal
  21. ethics is not a matter of convenience means to end are equally important ethics are practiced in absolutist terms acc to him
  22. we can still forgive children when they are afraid of darkness, real tragedy when men fear light
  • misplaced emotions only stifle growth
  • life is all about emotions
  • emotions should become our strength
  1. child has irrationally made darkness a monster he is afraid of – irrational fear
  2. when a adult don’t accept the truth, society can’t progress
  3. Moral core of the universe bends at arc of justice – Martin luther king
  4. We are taught to have a positive outlook all our life but we came to the world crying
  5.  Ethics being self regulation
  • true swaraj is achieved
  1. In law we are guilty when we violate the rights of others, in ethics we are guilty when we thinking of harming others – Kant
  2. Ethics ensure validity and integrity ensure reliability What cannot be cured must be endured
  3. hate the crime and not the criminals. – gandhi 
  4. One mans courage makes a majority
  5. Great leadership is about to know when to be in front and when to be back  
  6. providing space to others to prove their leadership
  7. morality is an attitude we adopt towards the people whom we personally dislike – oscar wilde
  8. sound ethics makes good economics
  9. life is all about what you hold valuable – service to parents, money, power
  10. A man who doesn’t know swimming can’t save a drawing man
  11. You don’t need to be a gardenr to enjoy the blooming flower
  12. Teacher should not just be provider of knowledge but also igniter of ideas
  13. Gandhi Ji – “Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”.
  14. Haruki Murakami’s “pain is inevitable, suffering is optional” is the best mantra to opt for.
  15. “Every saint has a past and every sinner a future”. – Oscar Wilde Performance = Ability*Motivation or =Drive*Direction
  16. Every citizen of the country adds to the human resource basket.
  17. As long as humankind has existed, misery has been its companion.
  18. Let us remember the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” – Pope
  19. Goals must take precedence over means where questions of human life are involved. – Amartya sen, An Idea of justice
  20. Manasa, Vacha, Karmana — “ when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” – this is my happiness “Battles are not won on morals alone”
  21. Conduct of a man is the expression of his character duty are obligatory actions
  22. “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are” -Benjamin Franklin
  23. Human propensity for cruelty is as boundless as that for kindness. And as vast for empathy.
  24. For an idealist: Mahatma Gandhi represented his “dream”, Nehru his ‘desire” and Subhash Bose his “deed”.
  25. dropping the weapon in case of difficult situation
  26. “They are forever free who renounce all selfish desire and break away from ego cafe of I, me and mine – Bhagavad Gita
  27. Abraham Lincoln said “you can fool some people all the time and all of the people some time but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”
  28. “All my best ideas were born of anger,” says children’s rights- activist and Nobel Peace prize winner Kailash Satyarthi
  29. If you judge people you’ll have no time to love them – Mother Teresa Peace begins with a smile – Mother teresa Freedom and power brings responsibility. 
  30. Men will not look at things as they really are, but as they wish them to be—and are ruined. – Machiavelli
  31. Truth is tied with responsibility
  32. Truth always triumphs and Truth alone triumphs.
  33. Facts do not cease to exist if they are ignored – Aldous Huxley
  34. Australian philosopher Peter Singer says that where world poverty is concerned ‘giving to charity’ is neither charitable nor generous; it is no more than our duty and not giving would be wrong.
  35. both by ehtical point of view and economic prudence one must see charity as a duty rather than a ‘help’
  36. Defanged generals seldom win wars
  37. While complacency is never warranted, over-anxiety should also be kept at bay. The man who tried his best and failed is superior to the man who never tried.- Bud Wilkinson
  38. John F Kennedy in mind – “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”
  39. The views I submit to you are those I have adopted. They are not original.- Gandhi I came into this world, not chiefly to make this a good place to live in, but to live in it, be it good or bad.- Thoreau
  40. I have learnt to use the word ‘impossible’ with the greatest caution. —Wernher Von Braun
  41. I refuse to live in one room. My home has many rooms. My home is a palace; it is Earth.
  42. People with high self esteem think they’re as good as others whereas narcissists think they are better than others.
  43. If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine. To believe in something and not live it is intellectual dishonesty – Gandhi
  44. The essence of philosophy is that it is not a closed thought, while ideology is a closed one.
  45. Tagore often quoted – “Change needs to begin with one”.
  46. One must care for the world one will not see – Gandhi
  47. If we value India we must not only make in India but also defend the idea of India
  48. I’m the voice of voiceless – Ambedkar
  49. The purpose of life is life of purpose
  50. Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep balance you must keep moving You have to dream before your dreams can come true. – Kalam
  51. To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal. – Kalam
  52. We should not give up and we should not allow the problem to defeat us. – Kalam
  53. Real kindness seeks no return; What return can the world make to rain clouds? – thiruvalluvar
  54. Even the ignorant may appear very worthy, If they keep silent before the learned.- thiruvalluvar
  55. Pen is mightier than the sword
  56. If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself
  57. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link
  58. Necessity is the mother of invention
  59. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer Fortune favours the bold
  60. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going
  61. Two wrongs don’t make a right
  62. To err is human, to forgive devine
  63. Health is wealth
  64. Heights by great man reached and kept, were not obtained by sudden flight; while
  65. you slept, they were toiling in the night
  66. Honesty is the best policy
  67. Problem shared is problem halved
  68. We are what we think All that we are arises With our thoughts With our thoughts We make our world. — The Buddha
  69. “Those who seek glory should be careless of public opinion – Sun Tzu
  70. The three characteristics part of the authentic self of an individual are: autonomy, integrity and harmony.
  71. Autonomy means using one’s own mind in making choices whether they are personal or public. This is possible only with a robust understanding of the world and one’s situation in it. It also demands a level of self-confidence and self-respect without being conceited or indulgent.
  72. Integrity is more than just autonomy as it involves a coherence in the results of one’s intellectual deliberations and taking them seriously while putting them in action and thus imparts an overall stability to one’s personality.
  73. Harmony, metaphorically, may be termed as a state of internal peace. More precisely, it means an alignment between one’s emotional states, intellectual understanding and actions
  74. Others
  75. “A hen lays one egg, the whole village hears her cackles; a turtle lays eggs by the hundred, not a sound is heard.”
  76. Happiness is never grand – Huxley, Brave New World
  77. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Franklin roosevelt during Great depression highlighting that problem was in people’s mind
  78. Socrates said that a knowledge of our ignorance is the first step toward true knowledge
  79. Persian proverb says: “He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool; shun him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is a child; teach him. He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep; wake him. He who knows, and knows that he knows, is wise; follow him.”
  80. “A wise man knows an ignorant one, because he has been ignorant himself, but the ignorant cannot recognize the wise, because he has never been wise.”— Persian Proverb.
  81. Thoughts become words; words become actions; actions become habits; habits become character:; and character becomes your destiny
  82. Success is getting what you want; while happiness is wanting what you get. Harmony is when both are in sync
  83. Kings and their swords are inferior to the sword of ethics – Gandhi
  84. The wounds made by fire will heal, But the wound made by tongue will never heal. – thiruvalluvar
  85. Before badgering a weak person, imagine yourself before a more powerful man. – thiruvalluvar
  86. Determined efforts result in prosperity; Idleness brings nothing. – thiruvalluvar Learning is the true imperishable wealth.- thiruvalluvar
  87. Let thoughts be always great and grant. – thiruvalluvar
  88. We should build a new social contract in new and rapidly growing India that we seek a country and world in which no child will sleep hungry, no child will sleep under the open sky, no child will be sent to work instead of a school no person will be subjected to discrimination or violence because of her identity, no person will be denied free, good-quality healthcare, and no old person will have to work or beg to live with dignity
  89. He who holds back rising anger like a rolling chariot, him I call a real driver; other people are but holding the reins. – Buddha
  90. 1.Bodily pleasures comes before godly pleasures as god is inside the body – HH Mukul pathak
  91. It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.
  92. Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.
  93. Consciously or unconsciously, everyone of us does render some service or another. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and it will make not only for our own happiness, but that of the world at large.
  94. A person who is worried about the outcome of his work does not see his goal; he sees only his opposition and the obstacles before him.
  95. Service that is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures as possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy.
  96. An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it.
  97. Truth quenches untruth, love quenches anger, self-suffering quenches violence. This eternal rule is a rule not for saints only but for all.
  98. In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.
  99. I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
  100. Non-violence, which is the quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the brain.
  101. Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
  102. Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.
  103. To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. The more helpless the creature, the more that it is entitled to protection by man from the cruelty of man.
  104. Non-violence and cowardice are contradictory terms. Non-violence is the greatest virtue, cowardice the greatest vice. Non-violence springs from love, cowardice from hate. Non-violence always suffers, cowardice would always inflict suffering. Perfect non-violence is the highest bravery. Non-violent conduct is never demoralising; cowardice always is.
  105. A “No “ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a Yes merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.
  106. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
  107. A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.
  108. Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
  109. My work will be finished if I succeed in carrying conviction to the human family that every man or woman, however weak in body, is the guardian of his or her self-respect and liberty, and that this defence prevails though the world be against the individual resister.
  110. There are times when you have to obey a call which is the highest of all, i.e. the voice of conscience even though such obedience may cost many a bitter tear, and even more, separation from friends, from family, from the state, to which you may belong, from all that you have held as dear as life itself. For this obedience is the law of our being.
  111. The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.
  112. Morality which depends upon the helplessness of a man or woman has not much to recommend it. Morality is rooted in the purity of our hearts. ( in respect to freedom)
  113. The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he does becomes tainted.
  114. It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings.
  115. Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.
  116. Hatred ever kills, Love never dies, such is the vast difference between the two. What is obtained by love is retained for all time. What is obtained by hatred proves a burden in reality, for it increases hatred.
  117. The test of friendship is assistance in adversity, and that too, unconditional assistance, Co-operation which needs consideration is as a commercial contract and not friendship. Conditional co-operation is like adulterated cement which does not bind.
  118. Capital as such is not evil; it is its wrong use that is evil. Capital in some form or other will always be needed.
  119. When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall — think of it, always.
  120. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
  121. Public opinion alone can keep a society pure and healthy.
  122. Adaptability is not imitation. It means power of resistance and assimilation.
  123. The only virtue I want to claim is truth and non-violence. I lay no claim to super-human powers. I want none. I wear the same corruptible flesh that the weakest of
  124. my fellow beings wears, and am therefore as liable to err as any. My services have many limitations, but God has up to now blessed them in spite of the imperfections.
  125. Literary education is of no value, if it is not able to build up a sound character.
  126. I worship God as Truth only. I have not yet found Him, but I am seeking after Him. I am prepared to sacrifice the things dearest to me in pursuit of this quest. Even if the sacrifice demanded by very life, I hope I may be prepared to give it.
  127. Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man.
  128. Excel in your work, produce wealth, take the minimum which you need, leave the rest to the welfare of the community.