Non-resistance to Evil. The Story of My Faith in the Power of the Human Soul

«As long as there exists oppression and degradation of the human spirit, people will always turn to Mahatma Gandhi to affirm their dignity. The weapon of nonviolent resistance that he gave humanity is now applied in other countries and in... different circumstances. The world rightly considers Gandhi the greatest Indian after Buddha». — Indira Gandhi «...Nonviolence does not mean meek submission to the will of the wrongdoer. It is rather the opposition of all the soul's powers of the offended to the evil will of the tyrant. Nonviolence is not the lot of cowardice; it is always heroism. At the same time, mastering nonviolence requires much greater artistry from a person than is necessary for a swordsman with a rapier. A person who masters the method of nonviolence is capable of challenging the entire might of an unjust empire and defending his honor and dignity...» — Mahatma Gandhi. The life of every person, according to the philosopher and politician, is a chain of their experiments with truth; the only question is the purpose for which they are conducted. Mahatma Gandhi saw his goal in freeing his people from centuries of slavery, in reviving the culture of great India. He wanted to feed the hungry, protect the humiliated, give hope to the downtrodden. This goal is not new, just as the main means of achieving it — revolution. However, Gandhi chose as his main tool not a stone — the weapon of the proletariat, but selfless love. And he saw the meaning of political activity not in behind-the-scenes intrigue, but in the search for Truth... In 1939, he wrote to Adolf Hitler addressing him as «Dear Friend», trying to stop the world war and convey to him at least a part of that selfless faith in the power of the human spirit that he himself possessed. This book consists of the most famous texts of Gandhi dedicated to his theory of non-resistance to evil, biographical notes, and letters.