Dalip Singh Saund

“ Gandhi, even at moments of the most violent excitement and heated controversies, when criticisms were showered upon his program in the most light-hearted manner by his younger and inexperienced colleagues, and when he was made the target for the bitterest sarcasm of his older associates, he is never known to have revealed, even in the tone of his voice, the slightest touch of anger or the slightest show of contempt. ”

“ Our non-violence teaches us to love our enemies. By non-violent non-cooperation we seek to conquer the wrath of English administrators and their supporters. We must love them and pray to God that they might have wisdom to see what appears to us to be their error. It must be the prayer of the strong and not of the weak. In our srength must we humble ourselves before our maker. ”

“ He further enjoined them to love their oppressors, and through love and suffering to bring them to light, so that their own eyes could see what in his was their mistake. “Hatred ceaseth not by hatred; hatred ceaseth by love,” was his sole plea. ”

“ His theory of a non-violent mass revolution aiming at the dethronement of a powerful, well-established and fully equipped militaristic government, like the British Bureaucracy in India, though strange and unpractical at first thought, is yet very simple and straightforward.
“Man is born free, and yet,” lamented Rousseau, “he is everywhere in chains.” “Man is born free, why should he refuse to live free?” questions Gandhi. Freedom is man’s birthright. ”

“ When it goes corrupt, when instead of protecting its members from every form of evil and disorder, it becomes an instrument of the forces of darkness, a tool of corruption, citizens have it as their inalienable right to demand a change in the existing order. ”

“ Gandhi, the heroicly determined son of the “Bharat,” calmly reviewing the situation, feels the impulse to save his motherland from the present state of “slow torture, emasculation and degradation,” and suggests to his countrymen the use of the unique yet powerful weapon of non-violent non-cooperation. Through this slow process of “self-denial” and “self-purification” he proposes to carry his country forward till the goal of its political emancipation and its spiritual freedom is fully realized. Political freedom might be secured by force, but that is not what Gandhi wants. ”

“ But you must not mistake my condemnation of the system for that of the man. My religion requires me to love him as I love myself. I have no interest in living except to prove the faith in me. I would deny God if I do not attempt to prove it at this criical moment. ”

“ Our non-violence must not breed violence, hatred or ill-will.
“If we approach our program with the mental reservation that, after all, we shall wrest power from the British by force of arms, then we are untrue to our profession of non-violence. ... If we believe in our program, we are bound to believe that the British people are not unamenable to the force of affection, as they undoubtedly are amenable to the force of arms. ”

“ Complete non-violence is complete absence of ill-will against all that lives,—and in its active form, good will towards all life. It is pure love, as I read it in the Hindu Scriptures, in the Bible, in the Koran. Non-violence is a perfect state. It is a goal towards which mankind moves naturally, though unconsciously. Man does not become divine when he personfies innocence in himself. Only then does he become truly man.
“Restraint is the law of our being. Highest perfection is unattainable without highest restraint. Suffering is thus the badge of the human tribe .... ”

“ The forces of darkness and of evil will have made room for those of light and of love. But this shall not be, unless Gandhi’s policy is literally adopted, and ultimately triumphs. He explains:
“The political non-violence of the Non-cooperator does not stand the test in the vast majority of cases. Hence the prolongation of the struggle. Let no one blame the unbending English nature. The hardest fiber must melt in the fire of Love. When the British or other nature does not respond, the fire is not strong enough. ”

“ A statesman by profession, Karamchand Gandhi, the father of the future illustrious hero of his country, was a veritable just man at heart. Mr. Gandhi’s mother was an orthodox Hindu lady, with stubborn religious conceptions, and she led a very simple, pure, and dignified life after the teachings of the Hindu Vedas. ”

“ Gandhi is highly eloquent on this score when he says:
“They may forget non-cooperation, but they dare not forget non-violence. Indeed, non-cooperation is non-violence. We are violent when we support a government whose creed is violence. It bases itself finally not on right but might. Its last appeal is not to reason, nor the heart, but to the sword. We are tired of this creed and we have risen against it. Let us not ourselves belie our profession by being violent.” *⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠* “Non-violence is complete innocence. ”

“ If the chairman of a corporation is corrupt, the members thereof must wash their hands clean of his corruption by withdrawing from it; even so, if a government does a grave injustice, the subject must withdraw cooperation, wholly or partially, sufficiently to wean the ruler from his wickedness. In each of the cases conceived by me, there is an element of suffering whether mental or physical. Without such suffering, it is impossible to attain freedom.” *⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠* “The business of every god-fearing man is to dissociate himself from evil in total disregard of consequences. ”

“ Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment.....”
“One must love one’s enemies while hating their deeds; hate Satanism while loving Satan” is the principal article of Gandhi’s faith, and he has proved himself worthy of all his lofty professions by his own personal conduct. ”

“ If non-violence is to remain the policy of the nation, we are bound to carry it out to the letter and in the spirit. We must then quickly make up with the English and the Cooperators. We must get their certificate that they feel absolutely safe in our midst, that they regard us as friends, although we belong to a radically different school of thought and politics. ”

“ I am here to invite and to submit to the highest penalty that can be inflicted upon me for what in law is a crime, but which is thefirst duty of every citizent. ....Affection cannot be manufactured or regulated by law. I hold it to be a virtue to be disaffected towards a government which, in its totality, has done more harm to India than any previous systemt..... ”

“ Gandhi held an undisputed sway over the hearts of his three hundred million countrymen. Setting aside all precedence Mr. Gandhi was unanimously elected the dictator of the Indian National Congress with full powers to lead the country in times of emergencies. A word from Mr. Gandhi was sufficient to induce the suffering millions of struggling India to sacrifice their lives without regret or reproach. No man ever commanded the loyal allegiance of a greater number of hearts, feeling at the same time so meek. ”

“ If a father does an injustice, it is the duty of his children to leave the parental roof. If the head-master of a school conducts his institution on an immoral basis, the pupils must leave the school. ”

“ He makes no compromises and never tries to hide a mistake. Nor is he afraid to admit having been in the wrong. Diplomacy is unknown to him, he shuns oratorical effect or, rather, never thinks about it, and he shrinks unconsciously from the great popular demonstrations organized in his honor. ”

“ I believe in loving my enemies.....I believe in the power of suffering to melt the stoniest heart.....We must by our conduct demonstrate to every Englishman that he is safe in the remotest corner of India as he professes to feel behind the machine gun" *⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠*⁠* “There is only one God for us all, whether we find him through the Bible, the Koran, the Gita, the Zindvesta or the Talmud, and He is the God of love and truth. I do not hate an Englishman. I have spoken much against his institutions, especially the one he has set up in India. ”

“ With unlimited liberty in thought and action, he could live in perfect peace and harmony, only if all men would rigidly observe their own duties and keep “within their own rights.” But men as they are, and not as they should be, possess a certain degree of animal nature. ”

“ Soft dark eyes, a small frail man, with a thin face and rather large protruding eyes, his head covered with a little white cap, his body clothed in coarse white cloth, barefooted. He lives on rice and fruit and drinks only water. He sleeps on the floor—sleeps very little, and works incessantly. His body does not seem to count at all. ”

“ He must have faith in a good deed producing only a good result; that in my opinion is the Gita doctrine of work without attachment. God does not permit him to peep into the future. He follows truth although the followingof it may endanger his very life. ”

“ His manner is gentle and courteous even when dealing with adversaries, and he is of immaculate sincerity. He is modest and unassuming, to the point of sometimes seeming almost timid, hesitant, in making an assertion. ”