The Essential Gandhi (47 page)

Well, all my philosophy, if it may be called by that pretentious name, is contained in what I have said. But you will not call it “Gandhism,” there is no “ism” about it. And no elaborate literature or propaganda is needed about it.… Those who believe in the
simple truths I have laid down can propagate them only by living them.…
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If I can say so without arrogance and with due humility, my message and methods are, indeed, in their essentials for the whole world and it gives me keen satisfaction to know they have already received a wonderful response in the hearts of a large and daily growing number of men and women in the West.
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[Gandhi usually asked his American visitors about the treatment of Negroes in the United States. American Negroes were among his visitors and correspondents.]

A civilization is to be judged by its treatment of minorities.
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[A group of American Negroes sent Gandhi a telegram of encouragement, to which he replied in
Young India:
]

Theirs is perhaps a task more difficult than ours. But they have some very fine workers among them. Many students of history consider that the future is with them. They have a fine physique. They have a glorious imagination. They are as simple as they are brave. Monsieur Finot has shown by his scientific researches that there is in them no inherent inferiority.… All they need is opportunity. I know that if they have caught the spirit of the Indian movement [the spirit of non-violence] their progress must be rapid.
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[It] may be through the Negroes that the unadulterated message of Non-violence will be delivered to the world.

[Discussing Non-violence with Gandhi, Dr. Howard Thurman, a Negro minister and writer, asked him, “How are we to train individuals or communities in this difficult art?”]

There is no royal road, except through living the creed in your life.… If for mastering of the physical sciences you have to devote a whole lifetime, how many lifetimes may be needed for mastering the greatest spiritual force that mankind has known? But why
worry even if it means several lifetimes? For, if this is the only permanent thing in life, if this is the only thing that counts, then whatever effort you bestow on mastering it is well-spent.…
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If you feel humiliated [by a bully, for example] you will be justified in slapping [him] in the face or taking whatever action you might deem necessary to vindicate your self-respect. The use of force, in the circumstance, would be the natural consequence if you are not a coward. But if you have assimilated the non-violent spirit, there should be no feeling of humiliation in you. Your non-violent behavior should then either make the bully feel ashamed of himself and prevent the insult, or make you proof against it, so that the insult would remain … in the bully’s mouth and not touch you at all.

 … Non-violence … is not a mechanical thing. You do not become non-violent by merely saying, “I shall not use force.” It must be felt in the heart.… When there is that feeling it will express itself through some action. It may be a sign, a glance, even silence. But, such as it is, it will melt the heart of the wrong-doer and check the wrong.
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 … Supposing I was a Negro and my sister was ravished by a white or lynched by a whole community, what would be my duty?—I ask myself. And the answer comes to me: I must not wish ill to these but neither must I coöperate with them. It may be that ordinarily I depend on the lynching community for my livelihood. I refuse to coöperate with them, refuse even to touch the food that comes from them and I refuse to coöperate with even my brother Negroes who tolerate the wrong.…
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[Persecution of the Indians and Negroes in South Africa by the whites never ceased to arouse Gandhi’s indignation.]

 … South Africa has many wise men and women.… It will be a tragedy for the world if they do not rise superior to their debilitating surroundings and give a proper lead to their country on this
vexed and vexing problem of White supremacy. Is it not by this time a played out game?
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The real “White Man’s Burden” is not insolently to dominate colored or black people under the guise of protection, it is to desist from the hypocrisy which is eating into them. It is time white men learnt to treat every human being as their equal. There is no mystery about whiteness of the skin. It has repeatedly been proved than given equal opportunity, a man, be he of any color or country, is fully equal to any other.

Therefore, white men throughout the world … should act upon their fellow-men in South Africa … “Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you.” Or, do they take in vain the name of Him who said this? Have they banished from their hearts the great colored Asiatic who gave to the world the above message? Do they forget that the greatest of the teachers of mankind were all Asiatics and did not possess a white face? These, if they descended on earth and went to South Africa, will all have to live in the segregated areas and be classed as Asiatics and colored people unfit by law to be equals of Whites.

Is a civilization worth the name which requires for its existence the very doubtful prop of racial legislation and lynch law?…
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Those who agree that racial inequality must be removed and yet do nothing to fight the evil are impotent. I cannot have anything to say to such people. After all, the underdogs will have to earn their own salvation.
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 … If you think of the vast size of Africa, the distance and natural obstacles separating its various parts, the scattered condition of its people and the terrible divisions among them, the task might well appear to be hopeless. But there is a charm which can overcome all these handicaps.

The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. He frees himself and shows the way to others. Freedom
and slavery are mental states. Therefore, the first thing is to say to yourself: “I shall no longer accept the role of a slave. I shall not obey orders as such but shall disobey them when they are in conflict with my conscience.” The so-called master may lash you and try to force you to serve him. You will say: “No, I will not serve you for your money or under a threat.” This may mean suffering. Your readiness to suffer will light the torch of freedom which can never be put out.
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[Gandhi’s correspondence with children gave him much joy, and he attended to it with the same devotion and care that he showed all his work. A little girl once wrote him: “We are working to prevent war and making posters. God bless you.” Gandhi gave this reply:]

I was delighted to have your sweet notes with funny drawings made by you.… Yes, it is little children like you who will stop all war. This means that you never quarrel with other boys and girls or among yourselves. You cannot stop big wars if you carry on little wars yourselves.… May God bless you all. My kisses to you all if you will let me kiss you.…
¹

 … It is a trite saying that one half the world knows not how the other lives. Who can say what sores might be healed, what hurts solved, were the doings of each half of the world’s inhabitants understood and appreciated by the other?
²

War with all its glorification of brute force is essentially a degrading thing. It demoralizes those who are trained for it. It brutalizes men of naturally gentle character. It outrages every beautiful canon of morality. Its path of glory is foul with the passions of lust, and red with the blood of murder. This is not the pathway to our goal. The grandest aid to development of strong, pure, beautiful character which is our aim, is the endurance of suffering. Self-restraint, unselfishness, patience, gentleness, these are the flowers
which spring beneath the feet of those who accept but refuse to impose suffering.…
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