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Mahatma Gandhi (Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi) 1869-1948

Indian statesman

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?

Non-Violence in Peace and War (1942) vol. 1, ch. 142

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.

Non-Violence in Peace and War (1949) vol. 2, ch. 5

Non-violence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed.

Speech at Shahi Bag, 18 March 1922, on a charge of sedition, in Young India 23 March 1922

Recently I saw a film of Gandhi when he came to England in 1930. He disembarked in Southampton and on the gangway he was already overwhelmed by journalists asking questions. One of them asked, 'Mr Gandhi, what do you think of modern civilization?' And Mr Gandhi said, 'That would be a good idea.'

E. F. Schumacher Good Work (1979) ch. 2