Re: Mahatma Gandhi quote

[Lou Sternberg <loustern@primenet.com>]

>At 04:25 PM 7/24/99 , Lou Sternberg wrote:
>>I noticed the quote below attached to a post about the SK8 Park.
>>>"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will
>>>look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."
>>>  -- Mahatma Gandhi
>>If you are interested in a brief look at Gandhi's views, try this:
>>http://www.markshep.com/nonviolence/Myths.html


At 06:00 PM 7/24/99 -0700, Ry Jones wrote:
>This would be an interesting page if:
>1) The author of the page wasn't selling a book
>2) The author does not list Gandhi's autobiography amogst his sources
>3) The author didn't "filter" his view of Gandhi the way he claims history
>"filters" nonviolence
>
>The quote, FYI, is in Gandhi's autobiography. I doubt is was ghostwritten.
>If you want a sourcebook on what Gandhi thinks, maybe you should look there.


Huh?  I did not suggest that the quote was not authentic.  I was just
trying to put the quote into context, and thought that the transcript of
Shepard's lecture could help.  Here is a brief exerpt from the webpage:

"Gandhi pointed out three possible responses to oppression and injustice.
One he described as the coward's way: to accept the wrong or run away from
it. The second option was to stand and fight by force of arms. Gandhi said
this was better than acceptance or running away.

But the third way, he said, was best of all, and required the most courage:
to stand and fight solely by nonviolent means."

As to the credibility and motive of the author, Mark Shepard, I think this
intro to the lecture found at the webpage will suffice:

"The 1990 Annual Gandhi Lecture for the International Association of
Gandhian Studies, delivered at the University of Virginia at
Charlottesville on October 2. First published by Simple Productions,
Arcata, California, 1990. Copyright (c) 1990 by Mark Shepard. May be freely
copied and shared for any educational, noncommercial purpose.  This and
other materials can be found on the World Wide Web on Mark Shepard's
Nonviolence Page." 

Hope this helps,

Lou







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