Sarojini Naidu birth anniversary: Top 7 famous quotes by the Nightingale of India

Born on February 13, 1879, freedom fighter and poet Sarojini Naidu had an inclination towards writing since the age of 12. Here are some of her quotes.

Sarojini Naidu better known as the Nightingale of India or Bharatiya Kokila was a poet, politician and freedom fighter. Her poems were known to be imagery and gestures for ideal love. Born on February 13, 1879, Sarojini Naidu had an inclination towards writing since the age of 12. Her collection of poems ‘The Broken Wings’ was published in 1905. Her father Aghoranth Chattopadhyaya was a scientist and the founder of the Nizam College in Hyderabad. Her mother Barada Sundari Devi was among known Bengali poets. She married Dr Govindarajulu Naidu, a doctor by profession and had four children Jayasurya, Padmaj, Randheer, and Leilaman.

Sarojini Naidu joined the Indian national movement during the Bengal Partition in 1905. Her works for the country’s independence were notable. She presided over the annual session of Indian National Congress in Kanpur in 1925 and attended the  East African Indian Congress in South Africa in 1929. Naidu participated in the  Round Table Conference with Mahatma Gandhi and Madan Mohan Malaviya in 1930. The British Government conferred her with the Kaiser-i-Hind medal for her works during the plague epidemic in India. She was jailed along with Gandhiji for her role in the Civil Disobedience Movement. Naidu was also arrested in 1942 for her involvement in the Quit India Movement. Naidu became the Governor of Uttar Pradesh after India became independent from Britishers. She passed away on March 2, 1949, while working in the office. On Sarojini Naidu’s birth anniversary, we have a list of some of her famous quotes:

1.A country’s greatness lies in its undying ideals of love and sacrifice that inspire the mothers of the race.

2.We want deeper sincerity of motive, a greater courage in speech and earnestness in action.

3.To quench my longing I bent me low by the streams of the spirits of Peace that flow in that magical wood in the land of sleep.

4.Oh, we want a new breed of men before India can be cleansed of her disease. Happy 70th Independence Day 2016: 10 Greatest Freedom Fighters of India!

5.When there is oppression, the only self-respecting thing is to rise and say this shall cease today, because my right is justice. If you are stronger, you have to help the weaker boy or girl both in play and in the work.

6.A country’s greatness lies in its undying ideals of love and sacrifice that inspire the mothers of the race

7.I say it is not your pride that you are a Madrasi, it is not your pride that you a brahmin, it is not your pride that you belong to south India, it is not your pride that you are a Hindu, that it is your pride that you are an Indian.

Sarojini Naidu met Nobel laureate Arthur Simon and Edmond Gausse on her trip to England. It was Gausse who convinced Sarojini to stick to Indian themes in her poetry. Promiment Indian politicians like Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Jawaharlal Nehru admired her poems. Many of her articles were also published in newspapers.