The following principles are not a list of “ten commandments” written by Gandhi himself. They are a synthesis of ideas that repeatedly appear in his writings, speeches, and political practice.

### 1. The Search for Truth

At the center of Gandhi’s thought stood truth — *Satya*. He did not believe that any individual possessed the whole truth. Instead, he believed that truth had to be pursued continuously, with humility and with a willingness to recognize and correct one’s mistakes.

For Gandhi, truth was not merely a matter of words. It had to be reflected in actions, relationships, and everyday life. Personal conduct and public action could not be governed by completely different moral standards.

### 2. Nonviolence

*Ahimsa*, the principle of nonviolence, was inseparable from Gandhi’s search for truth. He did not understand nonviolence as passivity or fear, but as the conscious refusal to harm another person even while resisting injustice.

For Gandhi, the real test of nonviolence came precisely when a person faced violence. Restraining the desire for retaliation demanded, in his view, greater strength than simply striking back.

### 3. The Means Matter as Much as the End

Gandhi rejected the idea that a good objective could justify any means used to achieve it. He believed that the methods chosen in the present inevitably shape the result that follows.

He repeatedly argued that if the means are just, the end will follow from them. Freedom, therefore, could not truly be built through methods rooted in hatred, humiliation, or revenge.

### 4. Resist Injustice Without Hating the Opponent

Nonviolence did not mean submission. Gandhi believed that people had a duty to resist laws and systems they considered deeply unjust.

*Satyagraha* was active resistance: refusing to obey an unjust law, accepting the consequences of that refusal, and rejecting violence. The struggle was directed against injustice itself, not against the human worth of the opponent.

### 5. Self-Discipline

Gandhi believed that social change depended, in part, on a person’s ability to govern himself before attempting to govern others.

Restraint, simplicity, control of desire, and freedom from excessive attachment to material possessions were, for him, forms of inner freedom. A person dominated by fear, anger, greed, or resentment could easily reproduce the very forms of domination he opposed.

### 6. Courage Is Essential to Nonviolence

In Gandhi’s thinking, nonviolence was not the refuge of the weak. It required courage because the person practicing it had to be willing to suffer consequences without seeking revenge.

He regarded fearlessness as essential to meaningful resistance. Courage was therefore not measured by the ability to inflict pain on others, but by the ability to confront danger without abandoning one’s principles.

### 7. Admit and Correct Mistakes

Gandhi did not consider consistency with one’s earlier opinions more important than recognizing an error. The search for truth required a willingness to change one’s position when experience, reflection, or conscience showed it to be wrong.

For him, admitting a mistake was not a humiliation but a form of moral progress. Growth required the courage to leave behind beliefs that could no longer be defended honestly.

### 8. Respect for Different Religions

Gandhi’s deep personal faith did not lead him to believe that only one religious tradition possessed truth.

He argued for respect among religions and believed that different traditions could express a shared human search for moral and spiritual meaning. Religious faith, in his view, could never justify hatred, fanaticism, or contempt for those who believed differently.

### 9. Simplicity, Service, and Limiting Possession

Gandhi’s simple way of life reflected a broader moral conviction. He believed that people should not accumulate far more than they genuinely needed while others lacked the necessities of life.

Human worth, in his view, was not measured by property or wealth but by service, responsibility, and the way one treated others. Service should not be performed for praise or reward, but because it was part of living ethically.

### 10. Personal Change and Social Change Are Connected

Gandhi believed that society was not entirely separate from the individuals who composed it. When people changed their habits, values, and conduct, the relationships within society could also begin to change.

This did not mean that social injustice could be solved by personal self-improvement alone. Gandhi himself organized mass campaigns, marches, strikes, boycotts, and acts of civil disobedience. But he believed that political action became more credible when those demanding change also attempted to embody the principles they expected from others.

At the heart of Gandhi’s thought was therefore a demanding connection between truth, nonviolence, self-discipline, courage, and social responsibility. Freedom was not only the removal of foreign rule. It was also the effort to avoid becoming, in one’s own actions, a new source of the injustice one claimed to oppose.