Remembering the father of the Indian Constitution, Dr BR Ambedkar

Popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar, Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was one of the greatest leaders modern India has ever seen. Known to be the author of India’s constitution, he used education as a means to rise above all odds. Dr Ambedkar came from a humble middle class Dalit family and barely had money to make ends meet. His efforts to eradicate untouchability and the caste system were phenomenal. It was he who changed the working hours in India from 14 to 8 hours. This visionary’s birthday is celebrated every year as Ambedkar Jayanti.

To remember him on this day, here are a few of his most inspiring quotes:

1. “Be Educated, be organised, and be agitated”
2. “They cannot make history, who forget history.”
3. “I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women have achieved.”
4. “They tried to bury me. They didn’t know I was a seed.”
5. “Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence”.
6. “If you believe in living a respectable life, you believe in self-help which is the best help”.
7. “A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be the servant of the society.”
8. “Men are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise both will wither and die.”
9. “If I find the constitution being misused, I shall be the first to burn it.”
10. “We must stand on our own feet and fight as best as we can for our rights.”
11. “Democracy is not merely a form of government.It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards our fellow men.”
12. So carry on your agitation and organize your forces. Power and prestige will come to you through struggle”.
13. “Life should be great rather than long”.
14. “One cannot have any respect or regard for men who take the position of the reformer andthen refuse to see the logical consequences of that position, let alone following them out in action.”
15. “Indifferentism is the worst kind of disease that can affect people.”
16. “Humans are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant needs watering. Otherwise both will wither and die.”
17. “Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as a governing principle.”
18. “Constitution is not a mere lawyer’s document, it is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of age.”
19. “A safe army is better than a safe border”
20. “The basic idea underlying religion is to create an atmosphere for the spiritual development of the individual.”
21. “Law and order are the medicine of the politic body and when the politic body gets sick, medicine must be administered.”
22. “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.”