“I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.”― Bhim Rao Ambedkar
“Freedom of mind is the real freedom.
A person whose mind is not free though he may not be in chains, is a slave, not a free man.
One whose mind is not free, though he may not be in prison, is a prisoner and not a free man.
One whose mind is not free though alive, is no better than dead.
Freedom of mind is the proof of one’s existence.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“The relationship between husband and wife should be one of closest friends.”― Bhim Rao Ambedkar
“If I find the constitution being misused, I shall be the first to burn it.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“On the 26th of January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality.
In politics we will be recognizing the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value.
In our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value.
How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions?
How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life?
If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril. We must remove this contradiction at the earliest possible moment or else those who suffer from inequality will blow up the structure of political democracy which this Assembly has so laboriously built up.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“In the Hindu religion, one can[not] have freedom of speech. A Hindu must surrender his freedom of speech. He must act according to the Vedas. If the Vedas do not support the actions, instructions must be sought from the Smritis, and if the Smritis fail to provide any such instructions, he must follow in the footsteps of the great men.
He is not supposed to reason. Hence, so long as you are in the Hindu religion, you cannot expect to have freedom of thought”― B.R. Ambedkar
“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 too.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realise that our people have yet to learn it. Democracy in India is only a top-dressing on an Indian soil which is essentially undemocratic.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“Life should be great rather than long.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Indifferentism is the worst kind of disease that can affect people.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“The Hindus criticise the Mahomedans for having spread their religion by the use of the sword. They also ridicule Christianity on the score of the Inquisition.
But really speaking, who is better and more worthy of our respect—the Mahomedans and Christians who attempted to thrust down the throats of unwilling persons what they regarded as necessary for their salvation, or the Hindu who would not spread the light, who would endeavour to keep others in darkness, who would not consent to share his intellectual and social inheritance with those who are ready and willing to make it a part of their own make-up?
I have no hesitation in saying that if the Mahomedan has been cruel, the Hindu has been mean; and meanness is worse than cruelty.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“Humans are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise both will wither and die.”― Bhim Rao Ambedkar
“Lost rights are never regained by appeals to the conscience of the usurpers,
but by relentless struggle…. Goats are used for sacrificial offerings and not lions.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Though, I was born a Hindu, I solemnly assure you that I will not die as a Hindu”― B.R. Ambedkar
“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.”― Bhim Rao Ambedkar
“I do not want that our loyalty as Indians should be in the slightest way affected by any competitive loyalty whether that loyalty arises out of our religion, out of our culture or out of our language.
I want all people to be Indians first, Indian last and nothing else but Indians.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as a governing principle.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“The teachings of Buddha are eternal, but even then Buddha did not proclaim them to be infallible.
The religion of Buddha has the capacity to change according to times, a quality which no other religion can claim to have…
Now what is the basis of Buddhism?
If you study carefully, you will see that Buddhism is based on reason.
There is an element of flexibility inherent in it, which is not found in any other religion.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“A just society is that society in which ascending sense of reverence and descending sense of contempt is dissolved into the creation of a compassionate society”― B.R. Ambedkar
“I like the religion that teaches liberty, equality and fraternity.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“It is not enough to be electors only.
It is necessary to be law-makers;
otherwise those who can be law-makers will be the masters of those who can only be electors.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Constitution is not a mere lawyers document, it is a vehicle of Life, and its spirit is always the spirit of Age.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Why does a human body become deceased?
The reason is that as long as the human body is not free from suffering, mind cannot be happy.
If a man lacks enthusiasm, either his body or mind is in a deceased condition….
Now what saps the enthusiasm in man?
If there is no enthusiasm, life becomes drudgery – a mere burden to be dragged. Nothing can be achieved if there is no enthusiasm.
The main reason for this lack of enthusiasm on the part of a man is that an individual looses the hope of getting an opportunity to elevate himself.
Hopelessness leads to lack of enthusiasm.
The mind in such cases becomes deceased….
When is enthusiasm created?
When one breaths an atmosphere where one is sure of getting the legitimate reward for one’s labor, only then one feels enriched by enthusiasm and inspiration.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“A bitter thing cannot be made sweet.
The taste of anything can be changed.
But poison cannot be changed into nectar.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“So long as you do not achieve social liberty, whatever freedom is provided by the law is of no avail to you.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Justice has always evoked ideas of equality, of proportion of compensation.
Equity signifies equality. Rules and regulations, right and righteousness are concerned with equality in value.
If all men are equal, then all men are of the same essence, and the common essence entitles them of the same fundamental rights and equal liberty…
In short justice is another name of liberty, equality and fraternity.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Slavery does not merely mean a legalised form of subjection.
It means a state of society in which some men are forced to accept from others the purposes which control their conduct.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“I do not know whether you draw a distinction between principles and rules. But I do… Rules are practical; they are habitual ways of doing things according to prescription. But principles are intellectual; they are useful methods of judging things… The principle may be wrong, but the act is conscious and responsible. The rule may be right, but the act is mechanical. A religious act may not be a correct act, but must at least be a responsible act. To permit this responsibility, 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 religion, as it kills the responsibility which is the essence of a truly religious act.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be the servant of the society.”― Bhim Rao Ambedkar
“The basic idea underlying religion is to create an atmosphere for the spiritual development of the individual.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“One cannot have any respect or regard for men who take the position of the reformer and then refuse to see the logical consequences of that position, let alone following them out in action.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Caste is another name for control. Caste puts a limit on enjoyment. Caste does not allow a person to transgress caste limits in pursuit of his enjoyment. That is the meaning of such caste restrictions as inter-dining and inter-marriage … These being my views I am opposed to all those who are out to destroy the Caste System.57”― B.R. Ambedkar
“If you ask me, my ideal would be the society based on liberty, equality and fraternity. An ideal society should be mobile and full of channels of conveying a change taking place in one part to other parts.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Democracy is not merely a form of Government…It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards fellowmen.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“How many generations of ours have worn themselves out by rubbing their foreheads on the steps of the god? But when did the god take pit on you? What big thing has he done for you? Generation after generation, you have been used to clean the village of its garbage and god gave you the dead animals to eat. In spite of all that, god did not show you any pity. It is not this god that you worship, it is your ignorance.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“I refuse to join with them in performing the miracle—I will not say trick—of liberating the oppressed with the gold of the tyrant, and raising the poor with the cash of the rich.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“Once you clear the minds of the people of this misconception and enable them to realise that what they are told is religion is not religion, but that it is really law, you will be in a position to urge its amendment or abolition.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“The fallacy of the socialists lies in supposing that because in the present stage of European society property as a source of power is predominant, the same is true of India, or the same was true of Europe in the past. Religion, social status, and property are all sources of power and authority which one man has to control the liberty of another. One is predominant at one stage; the other is predominant at another stage. That is the only difference. If liberty is the ideal, and if liberty means the destruction of the dominion which one man holds over another, then obviously it cannot be insisted upon that economic reform must be the one kind of reform worthy of pursuit. If the source of power and dominion is, at any given time or in any given society, social and religious, then social reform and religious reform must be accepted as the necessary sort of reform.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“Religion, social status, and property are all sources of power and authority which one man has, to control the liberty of another”― B.R. Ambedkar
“Dalit aspirations are a breach of peace. Annihilation of Caste is a breach of peace.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“The protagonists of chaturvarnya do not seem to have considered what is to happen to women in their system. Are they also to be divided into four classes, Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra? Or are they to be allowed to take the status of their husbands? If the status of the woman is to be the consequence of marriage, what becomes of the underlying principle of chaturvarnya—namely, that the status of a person should be based upon the worth of that person? If they are to be classified according to their worth, is their classification to be nominal or real?”― B R Ambedkar
“While I am prepared to bear with the imperfections and shortcomings of the society in which I may be destined to labour, I feel I should not consent to live in a society which cherishes wrong ideals, or a society which, having right ideals, will not consent to bring its social life into conformity with those ideals.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“To leave inequality between class and class, between sex and sex, which is the soul of Hindu society, and to go on passing legislation relating to economic problems is to make a farce of our Constitution and to build a palace on a dung heap.”70”― B.R. Ambedkar
“Law and order are the medicine of the politic body and when the politic body gets sick, medicine must be administered.”― Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
“Plato had no perception of the uniqueness of every individual, of his incommensurability with others, of each individual as forming a class of his own. He had no recognition of the infinite diversity of active tendencies, and the combination of tendencies of which an individual is capable.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“Every Congressman who repeats the dogma of Mill that one country is not fit to rule another country must admit that one class is not fit to rule another class.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“You must abolish your slavery yourselves. Do not depend for its abolition upon god or a superman. Remember that it is not enough that a people are numerically in the majority. They must be always watchful, strong and self-respecting to attain and maintain success.We must shape our course ourselves and by ourselves.”― B.R. Ambedkar
“Under the rule of the Peshwas in the Maratha country,11 the Untouchable was not allowed to use the public streets if a Hindu was coming along, lest he should pollute the Hindu by his shadow. The Untouchable was required to have a black thread either on his wrist or around his neck, as a sign or a mark to prevent the Hindus from getting themselves polluted by his touch by mistake. In Poona, the capital of the Peshwa, the Untouchable was required to carry, strung from his waist, a broom to sweep away from behind himself the dust he trod on, lest a Hindu walking on the same dust should be polluted. In Poona, the Untouchable was required to carry an earthen pot hung around his neck wherever he went—for holding his spit, lest his spit falling on the earth should pollute a Hindu who might unknowingly happen to tread on it.”― B R Ambedkar
“Siddharth Gautama rose in his seat and said, “I oppose this resolution. War does not solve any question. Waging war will not serve our purpose. It will sow the seeds of another war. The slayer gets a slayer in his turn; the conqueror gets one who conquers him; a man who despoils is despoiled in his turn.”― B.R. Ambedkar