Friday, October 2, 2009

Ten thoughts from Gandhiji’s life


We are born in a free democratic country, fully aware of our rights and equally nonchalant about our duties. It is very difficult for our generation to feel the miseries that the people fighting for freedom must have gone through.

Freedom struggle was a collective movement supported and nurtured by an average Indian. The fact remains that Mahatma Gandhi was one of the most significant leaders who successfully mobilized the masses on the way to freedom struggle. Sadly, it has become fashionable these days to criticize Gandhiji especially by young and naïve who haven’t read a single word of what Gandhji believed in. His thoughts were really worth applause, here I have just compiled ten of them with a hope that our generation understands and apply them…..

1. You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; even if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

2. Whatever you do may be soon insignificant, but it is very important that you do it

3. There are seven sins in the world: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Knowledge without character, Commerce without morality, Science without humanity, Worship without sacrifice and politics without principle.

4. It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err.

5. Non-violence does not signify that man must not fight against the enemy, and by enemy is meant the evil which men do, not the human beings themselves.

6. I cannot teach you violence, as I do not myself believe in it. I can only teach you not to bow your heads before any one even at the cost of your life.

7. It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.

8. The outward freedom that we shall attain will only be in exact proportion to the inward freedom to which we may have grown at a given moment. And if this is a correct view of freedom, our chief energy must be concentrated on achieving reform from within. 

9. Honest differences are often a healthy sign of progress.

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

12 comments:

  1. Gandhiji was a real "scientist" in the field of "Humanity". In that regard, his "experiments" (-with truth) are also worth knowing, which the criticizers wouldn't care about.

    Gandhiji's autobiography is truly one of the greatest books ever written in the world.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Am personally not a big fan of gandhijis ideology.
    But he must be respected for what he did. He moved the masses like none did before him.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Long Live his ideas and value! IMO, the best one:

    It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ Naveen..His times were different but what he said is relevant and will be relevant as long as there is humanity

    ReplyDelete
  5. @ Vikas , Thanks .....Most of his sayings are so very rational.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good compilation Sunilji, very useful to the youth of today.
    By the way, I like the vision of Gandhiji in 'Hind swaraj'.
    H. Anandarama Shastry

    ReplyDelete
  7. @shastryji, Thanks, true swaraj will be when we begin to think and act independently

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sir,
    I am personally too young to comment on any ideologies or thoughts you share with us but you write fabulously, i am ab big fan of your writting.

    ReplyDelete
  9. sensitivity is not an attribute related to age . As we grow we accumulate new experiences , some times. some people learn from them.
    Pleasure to have you on my blog .Your comments are most welcome considering the fact that at 18 you have already two books published.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sunilji, I will reserve my opinion on this one. We will continue to agree to disagree.

    There seems to be an overzealous effort to market/showcase India through 'Brand Gandhi'... which to my mind is quite ridiculous. His surname certainly helps 'others' to cover up a lot of things.

    I think calling him the 'Father of the Nation' is a little too much...

    Lots and lots of his actions were suspect. The imperial forces were able to impose this shameful and distorted theory of non-violence on us and on their other colonies through him.

    I come from a region which was the hub of all activities during the colonial rule as well as from a family of freedom fighters and martyrs. Therefore, I do not want to say too many things.

    It is a sad state of things, that today we have reduced the greatest Emperor to have ever walked on this planet - Chandragupta Vikramaditya to 'Vikram and Betal'... and elevated this man to 'sainthood'.

    ReplyDelete
  11. @ Roshmi ,
    I don't believe that Gandhiji alone got us freedom and I in totality agree about our nonchallance about King Vikramaditya ,chankaya and many more greats.
    I somehow like lot of things that Gabndhji wrote and I somehow dont like accusation of some people when they call him a traitor and responsible for killing of Bhagat singh etc. Some young minds do that .A fair deal of that happened on a forum of community on Orkut.I hear people critise him on radio without even knowing an iota about him. No one is perfect and Gandhiji wasn't either ....somehow I see more pluses then minus

    we always agree to disagree in pursuit of truth, Thanks Roshmi....

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am not sure where you're getting your information, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more. Thanks for fantastic info I was looking for this information for my mission.
    Here is my weblog ; easy diets that work

    ReplyDelete

Your viewpoint will definitely give it wider perspective

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Thanks for visiting .Soliciting your comments.

Website counter