Gandhi: An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mohandas Gandhi.

3/5 rating. 505 pages.

Book #45 of 2021. Read May 23, 2021.

This book is a discussion of Gandhi’s earlier life before he really became into the world’s eye. It especially focuses on his transformations in his understanding of ahimsa (the Hindu ideal of non-violence against all living things) and Satyagraha (Gandhi’s word for something akin to political non-violent non-cooperation).

Gandhi was born in India but studied as a barrister in England before moving and doing work in both South Africa and India. I have a deep respect for his continual experiments within his life. His curiosity at living a better, more truth-filled life is a great goal to aspire to. As is his striving for ahimsa and non-violence. Though I don’t necessarily think that it will always work, his eventual freeing of India from British rule, as well as later work by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela show that (usually combined with other work) non-violence is a powerful tool to fight oppression.

I did enjoy that Gandhi does a good job of stating even if he feels like some alternative medicine or something else like this worked, it could also as likely be because of something else.

I think my biggest complaints with Gandhi are his favoring “Truth” – when it comes to things such as drinking milk or something else that is a small request in the scheme of things – over life itself. I also found it humorous that he talks of his good health because of his fruitarian (and groundnut) diet even though he spends half the book saying that he didn’t have energy at different points: maybe only eating groundnut butter and lemons is not necessarily the most healthful way to survive?

Overall, though, Gandhi’s life, and his heart for service and helping others is definitely something to aspire to. I definitely can’t promote all of his ideas, but experimenting, practicing ahimsa as much as possible, and using Satyagraha as a means for righting political wrongs are all things more people would be wise to adopt.

Quotes:

“Thus the words and actions of the wise regard;/

Every little service tenfold they reward./

But the truly noble know all men as one,/

And return with gladness good for evil done.” – Gujarati stanza

“Great men never look at a person’s exterior. They think of his heart.”

“But I wanted to reserve my strength for fighting bigger battles. I should not exhaust my skill as a fighter in insisting on retaining my turban. It was worthy of a better cause.”

“But all my life through, the very insistence of truth has taught me to appreciate the beauty of compromise.”

“But truth is hard, as adamant and tender as a blossom.”

“It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow-beings.” 

“I had made the religion of service my own, as I felt that God could be realized only through service.”

“The congregation did not strike me as being particularly religious. They were not an assembly of devout souls; they appeared rather to be worldly-minded people, going to church for recreation and in conformity to custom.”

“What barrier is there that love cannot break?”

“My experience has shown me that we win justice quickest by rendering justice to the other party.”

“It is idle to adjudicate upon the right and wrong of incidents that have already happened. It is useful to understand them and, if possible, to learn a lesson from them for the future.”

“‘Well,’ said I, ‘this is my first experiment at washing my own collars and hence the loose starch. But it does not trouble me, and then there is the advantage of providing you with so much fun.’”

“It is the reformer who is anxious for the reform and not society, from which he should expect nothing better than opposition, abhorrence and even mortal persecution.”

“Truth is like a vast tree, which yields more and more fruit, the more you nurture it. The deeper the search in the mine of truth the richer the discovery of the gems buried there, in the shape of openings for an ever greater variety of service.”

“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.”

“We are all one family.”

“True beauty after all consists in purity of heart.”

“We will certainly go to jail, provided you lead us.”

“A nation that wants to come into its own ought to know all the ways and means to freedom. Usually they include violence as the last remedy.”

“The lesson was indelibly imprinted on the public mind that the salvation of the people depends upon themselves, upon their capacity for suffering and sacrifice.”

“To safeguard democracy the people must have a keen sense of independence, self-respect and their oneness, and should insist upon choosing as their representatives only such persons as are good and true.”

“My uniform experience has convinced me that there is no other God than Truth.”

“That is why my devotion to Truth has drawn me into the field of politics; and I can say without the slightest hesitation, and yet in all humility, that those who say that religion has nothing to with politics do not know what religion means.”

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