Gandhi's wisdom

60 years after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, and in a world of ever greater violence, it is worth reading some of the quotations of this wise man about peace and non-violence:

• "I object to violence because, when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."

• "Science of war leads one to dictatorship pure and simple. Science of non-violence can alone lead one to pure democracy."

• "True democracy (...) can never come through untruthful and violent means, for the simple reason that the natural corollary to their use would be to remove all opposition through the suppression or extermination of the antagonists. That does not make for individual freedom. Individual freedom can have the fullest play only under a regime of unadulterated ahimsa (non-violence)."

• "What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"

• "It is my firm conviction, that nothing enduring can be built upon violence."

• "Peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and done by unarmed nations in the face of odds."

• "Love is the strongest force the world possesses and yet it is the humblest imaginable."

• "The first step in non-violence is that we cultivate in our daily life, as between ourselves, truthfulness, humility, tolerance and loving kindness."

Not surprisingly, these words remain as actual and as relevant as they can be in our present-day world of selfishness, intolerance and aggression...

Links:
Gandhi, Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal / Gujarat Vidyapith
GandhiServe Foundation
National Gandhi Museum