From SF Heart, a few ideas from one of the greatest people ever to walk this earth. A man of deep wisdom and universally respected for his compassion (except by his assassin), he was a political giant in our present world of emotional, intellectual, and moral pygmies. Thank you for being here, "maha-atma," Great Spirit. May your words come alive in this century.
Gandhi's 7 Deadly Sins:"Wealth without Work, Pleasure without Conscience, Science without Humanity, Knowledge without Character, Politics without Principle, Commerce without Morality, Worship without Sacrifice"
"Democracy and violence can ill go together. Evolution of democracy is not possible if we are not prepared to hear the other side."
More quotes:
Hatred ever kills, love never dies; such is the vast difference between the two. What is obtained by love is retained for all time. What is obtained by hatred proves a burden in reality for it increases hatred.
You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil system never deserves such allegiance. Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil. A good person will resist an evil system with his or her whole soul.
Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.
Whether humanity will consciously follow the law of love, I do not know. But that need not disturb me. The law will work just as the law of gravitation works, whether we accept it or not. The person who discovered the law of love was a far greater scientist than any of our modern scientists. Only our explorations have not gone far enough and so it is not possible for everyone to see all its workings.
However much I may sympathize with and admire worthy motives, I am an uncompromising opponent of violent methods even to serve the noblest of causes.
Power is of two kinds. One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love. Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment.
Nonviolence and cowardice are contradictory terms. Nonviolence is the greatest virtue, cowardice the greatest vice. Nonviolence springs from love, cowardice from hate. Nonviolence always suffers, cowardice would always inflict suffering. Perfect nonviolence is the highest bravery. Nonviolent conduct is never demoralizing, cowardice always is.
Every murder or other injury, no matter for what cause, committed or inflicted on another is a crime against humanity.
Man's nature is not essentially evil. Brute nature has been known to yield to the influence of love. You must never despair of human nature.
It is the law of love that rules mankind. Had violence, i.e. hate, ruled us we should have become extinct long ago. And yet, the tragedy of it is that the so-called civilized men and nations conduct themselves as if the basis of society was violence.
Faith... must be enforced by reason... when faith becomes blind it dies.
Gandhi was once asked what he thought about western civilization. His response was: "I think it would be a good idea."
Crossposted over at Political Physics
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