The Story of My Experiments with Truth Philosophical Viewpoints: Non-violence Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation and a wicked deed disapprobation, the doer of the deed, whether good or wicked, always deserves respect or pity as the case may be. "Hate the sin and not the sinner" is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world. (4.9.12)

Gandhi wishes us to value people, not hate them. That doesn't mean being a pushover or doormat; we can still condemn and take action against unjust deeds. That's why he moved away from the term "passive resistance"—the phrase sounded like weakness.

Quote #5

This ahimsa is the basis of the search for truth. I am realizing every day that the search is vain unless it is founded on ahimsa as the basis. It is proper to resist and attack a system, but to resist and attack its author is tantamount to resisting and attacking oneself. For we are all tarred with the same brush, and are children of one and the same Creator, and as such the divine powers within us are infinite. To slight a single human being is to slight those divine powers, and thus to harm not only that being but with him the whole world. (4.9.13)

The point, Gandhi says, is to attack an unjust system, not the individuals running it. If the authorities are doing unjust things, they should be pitied, not hated.

Quote #6

Ahimsa is a comprehensive principle. We are helpless mortals caught in the conflagration of himsa. The saying that life lives on life has a deep meaning in it. Man cannot for a moment live without consciously or unconsciously committing outward himsa. The very fact of his living—eating, drinking, and moving about—necessarily involves some himsa, destruction of life, be it ever so minute. A votary of ahimsa therefore remains true to his faith if the spring of all his actions is compassion, if he shuns to the best of his ability the destruction of the tiniest creature, tries to save it, and thus incessantly strives to be free from the deadly coil of himsa. He will be constantly growing in self-restraint and compassion, but he can never become entirely free from outward himsa. (4.39.4)

Here, Gandhi is acknowledging that it's impossible to be perfectly non-violent. You might accidentally step on a bug, for example. But, he says, you should seek not to.