Gondola

So I've been reading this book about Gandhi, it's called "Past Masters, Gandhi" Haha kind of funny. Buns and I went to the library before the break to get some books and of course Buns knew exactly what she wanted and I didn't. I've wanted to read about Gandhi for a long time now, he's always seemed like a big deal or something, and I was interested in exactly how he got non-violence to work on such a large scale. So Gandhi was looked up and a entire bookshelf made up of thick thick volumes and biographies was dedicated to him. Naturally I picked a concise summary of his life, partly because I'm lazy and I knew the reading would be kind of dry and I want to read other things this break, and partly because I just wanted a summary and thought more focused questions would come from reading an overview.

I read the book but am going back and taking notes on things I like and/or find interesting. So here are my findings so far... do I have to cite this crap? Hmm....

On equality-
"It did not mean that I should get what others get, but rather that I should get what I need for my development."

Religion/life-
"Gandhi's view that each civilization, religion, and way of life had it's strengths and limitations enabled him to highlight both the possibility and necessity of an intercultural dialogue, and to argue that learning and borrowing from other traditions in no way compromised one's loyalty to one's own."

"For Gandhi, writing thus became inseperable from action."
(He wrote everyday, thought you might like that Buns.)

Thought and life were inseperable-
"thought came to have no meaning unless it was lived out and life was shallow unless it incarnated a carefully thought-out vision of life."

"Everytime Gandhi came across a new idea, he asked if it was worth living up to. If not he took no further interest. If it was in the affirmative he integrated it into his life, experimented with it's truth, and explored it's moral logic." (As a result of this he read little)

Major works that influenced Gandhi-
Thoreau's "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience"
Tolstoy's "The Kingdom of God is Within You"
Ruskin's "Unto This Last"

Soooo here's a terrible citation

"Past Master's Gandhi" Bhikhu Parekh, Oxford University Press New York 1997



As far as life goes in Cooper... things are quiet, lazy, and cold. It's so cold in this house!