Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar

A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be servant of the society.

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (April 14, 1891 – December 6, 1956), popularly known as Babasaheb, was an Indian jurist, politician, philosopher, anthropologist, historian and economist. He pioneered revival of Buddhism in India and inspired the Modern Buddhist movement. He was independent India's first law minister and the principal architect of the Constitution of India.

Quotes

• I was born a Hindu but will not die one.
  • As quoted in "The bogey of forced conversions", in The Hindu (26 October 2008)

• Neither god nor soul can save society.
  • In an interview with BBC radio

• Caste is not just a division of labour, it is a division of labourers.
  • As quoted in The Annihilation of Caste

• 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.
  • As Quoted In brainyquote

• In every country the intellectual class is the most influential class. This is the class which can foresee, advise and lead. In no country does the mass of the people live the life for intelligent thought and action. It is largely imitative and follows the intellectual class. There is no exaggeration in saying that the entire destination of the country depends upon its intellectual class. If the intellectual class is honest and independent, it can be trusted to take the initiative and give a proper lead when a crisis arises. It is true that the intellect by itself is no virtue. It is only a means and the use of a means depends upon the ends which an intellectual person pursues. An intellectual man can be a good man but he may easily be a rogue. Similarly an intellectual class may be a band of high-souled persons, ready to help, ready to emancipate erring humanity or it may easily be a gang of crooks or a body of advocates of narrow clique from which it draws its support.
  • As Quoted In ambedkar.org

• So long as you do not achieve social liberty, whatever freedom is provided by the law is of no avail to you.
  • As Quoted In gyanipandit

• 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.
  • As Quoted In brainyquote

• HE MEASURED THE PROGRESS OF A COMMUNITY BY THE DEGREE OF PROGRESS WHICH WOMEN HAS ACHIEVED
  • As Quoted In Quora.com

Political Science for Civil Services Main Examination, 2010

N.D. Arora. Political Science for Civil Services Main Examination. Tata McGraw-Hill Education. p. 1–25. ISBN 978-0-07-009094-1. 

• Every man who repeats the dogma of Mill that one country is not fit to rule another country must admit that a class is not fit to rule another class.

• For a successful revolution, it is not enough that there is enough discontent. What is required is a profound and thorough conviction of justice, necessity and importance of political and social rights.

• History shows that where ethics and economics come in conflict, victory is always with economics. Vs vested interests have never been be known to have willingly divested themselves unless there was sufficient force to compel them.

• In Hinduism, conscience, reason, and independent thinking have no scope for development.

• Indians today are governed by 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.

• I was born a Hindu because I had no control over this, but I shall not die a Hindu.

• A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be servant of the society.

• It was not enough that India should get Swaraj. It was more important in whose hands the Swaraj would be.

• ...we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics, we will have equality and in social and economic rights, we will have inequality.... We must remove this contradiction or else who suffer from this inequality will blow up the structure....

• If I find the constitution being misused, I shall be the first to burn it.

• Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as governing principle.

• Majorities are of two sorts: (1) Communal majority and (ii) political majority. A political majority is changeable in its class composition. A political majority grows. A communal majority is born.The admission to a political majority is open. The door in a communal majority is closed. The politics of political majority are free to all to make and unmake. The politics of community majority are made by its own members born in it.