"We must keep nonviolence as our goal and make steady progress towards it. The attainment of freedom, whether for a man, nation or the world, must be in exact proportion to the attainment of nonviolence by each. Let those, therefore, who believe in nonviolence as the only method of achieving real freedom, keep the lamp of nonviolence as the only method of achieving real freedom, keep the lamp of nonviolence burning bright in the midst of the present impenetrable gloom. The truth of a few will count, the untruth of millions will vanish even like chaff before a whiff of wind" -Mahatma Gandhi

In his Foreword to "Gandhi in the Post Modern Age", Toynbee Prize Laureate, Professor Ralph Buultjens of New York University notes as follows:

"The fragility of modern civilization is exposed by the frighteningly ineffective way in which our world approaches conflict resolution. In international relationships, neither conventional diplomacy nor various uses of military deference have improved the thin margin on which the world exists. This somewhat pessimistic reading of history is challenged by one major exception, Mahatma Gandhi's application of policies and techniques of nonviolence in India. Gandhi's success both redeems human nature from the inevitability of its historical experience and also suggests the viability of nonviolence in modern situations. "

Over the past half a century, many Peace Prize recipients and numerous peacemakers have been influenced by Gandhian philosophy which proclaims that peace truly begins with each of us. And the responsibility lies with each of us to practice peace in our lives.


Picture credits: GandhiServe Foundation - www.gandhiserve.org