“A thing acquired by violence can be retained by violence alone, while one acquired by truth can be retained only by truth.”
Gandhi had a keen eye for what he called “laws of nature,” and the quote above was one of them. Any achievement attained through violence—power over others, money, possessions—can only be kept through violent means: more guns, more police, more prisons. Any achievements of a nonviolent struggle—democracy, independence, voting rights—can only be maintained by an ongoing reliance upon nonviolent means.
Gandhi wanted us to take to heart that it is a misunderstanding to believe that any nonviolent struggle is ever really over. In fact, not only do we need to maintain our achievements, we need to build on them.
What do you think? Let us know with a comment below.
XOXO,
Stephanie
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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By: Stephanie Van Hook
Stephanie Van Hook is Executive Director of the Metta Center for Nonviolence.
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I think that is very insightful … some of the research from Chenoweth and Stephan is also indicating that violence begets more violence, including the presence of violent flanks in generally nonviolent movements. And, along with the violence, comes a decreased rate of democracy and greater instability. Perhaps Gandhi was all on to something with “means are ends in the making” . . . perhaps nonviolence is the best path toward democracy and justice.
Thanks for the post. I like the written Daily Mettas more than video. (I don’t always watch the videos, but I will scan the paragraphs. And it’s not a personality thing … it’s a format thing.)
HI Rivera, no doubt Gandhi was on to something. . . The format change was thought out mainly in terms of work and time. I like the videos because they were/are reaching a different audience. Not everyone will open or scan a paragraph, but people will watch something. Anyway, there’s a compromise now, so that’s great.
Regarding the quote about that which is achieved by violence only being kept by violence and by truth, only kept by truth (of course I am paraphrasing), I feel so strongly that this is absolute Truth, in its basic simplicity. I have never responded before to any of the Metta Center information and discussions, but this quote from Gandhi rings so true, in my opinion, to what we, as citizens of our world, Earth, need to see is happening all around us, nation to nation and neighbor to neighbor. Whether we discuss a world power or your local police department, violence proliferates. I guess as a Quaker, I am doubly horrified by this reliance upon violence to resolve everything. But of course these are false resolutions and can only lead to more violence. Thus, we come full circle, as stated in Gandhi’s profoundly important words. We are a violent world society and all we have to do is pick up a daily newspaper to see where that’s getting us.
Thanks for engaging with this one. The neighbor to neighbor part really speaks to me right now as I find more and more people with whom I interact in random places seem to be on edge, ready for an argument, defensive, etc. It helps me to look at myself, too.
Hi, Stephanie and thanks for your remarks. I can fully relate to encountering “people on edge, ready for an argument.” Even riding in the car is an encounter with anger – road rage is everywhere! And no patience anywhere. Like you, I include myself here. I need to slow down and spend more time in the presence of Solitude, in peaceful quiet and simplicity.