“I would use the most deadly weapons, if I believed that they would destroy it [the British Raj]. I refrain only because the use of such weapons would only perpetuate the system though it may destroy its present administrators.” ~ Gandhi, Young India, 17-3-1927, p. 85

It would be hard to think of a more important piece of wisdom for those of us today who may be contemplating what has come to be called a “diversity of tactics,” which is a euphemism for using “some” violence in an otherwise non-violent action.  How many examples have we seen, tragically, of both the confusion of an otherwise non-violent action (think of Seattle in 1999) and of getting autocrats out of power through violence only to see different “administrators” come in to take their place?

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About Daily Metta

Stephanie Van Hook, the Metta Center’s executive director, launched Daily Metta in 2015 as a way to share Gandhi’s spiritual wisdom and experiments with nonviolence.

Our 2016 Daily Metta continues with Gandhi on weekdays. On weekends, we share videos that complement Michael Nagler’s award-winning book, The Search for a Nonviolent Future: A Promise of Peace for Ourselves, Our Families, and Our World. To help readers engage with the book more deeply, the Metta Center offers a free PDF study guide.

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