Jawaharlal Nehru Quotes

There is only one thing that remains to us that cannot be taken away: to act with courage and dignity and to stick to the ideals that have given meaning to life; but that is not the politician's way.

கடிதம் தேதி 07.12.1947

சில மாநிலங்களில் ராஷ்ட்ரிய ஸ்வயம் ஸேவக் சங்கம் (ஆர்.எஸ்.எஸ்) ஏற்பாடு செய்திருந்த மாபெரும் ஆர்ப்பாட்டங்களைப் பற்றிய செய்திகள் எனக்குக் கிடைத்துள்ளன. பெரும்பாலான இடங்களில் தடை உத்திரவுகளை மீறி இவை நடத்தப்பட்டுள்ளன. சில மாநில அரசுகள் இந்தச் சட்ட மீறலுக்கெதிராக ஒரு நடவடிக்கையும் எடுக்கவில்லை. நடவடிக்கைகள் எடுக்கும் உத்திகள், சுதந்தரத்தில் நான் தலையிட விரும்பவில்லையெனினும் இப்படி நீங்கள் செய்ததன் பின்விளைவுகள் மிகப் பெரியதாக இருக்குமென்று மட்டும் சுட்டிக்காட்ட விரும்புகிறேன்.

ஆர்.எஸ்.எஸ். ஒரு தனியார் ராணுவத்தைப் போலச் செயல்படுகிறது என்பதற்கும் நாஜிப் படையினரின் அமைப்பையும் செயல்பாடுகளையும் பின்பற்றுகிறது என்பதற்கும் நம்மிடம் நிறையவே சான்றுகள் உள்ளன. மனித உரிமைகளில் தலையிடுவதல்ல நமது கொள்கை. ஆனால் மனிதர்களுக்கு ஆயுதப் பயிற்சியளிப்பது அவற்றை எப்படி உபயோகிப்பதென்று சொல்லிக் கொடுப்பது போன்ற செயல்களை நாம் ஊக்குவிக்கக்கூடாது. அனைவருக்கும் தெரிந்தே ஆர்.எஸ்.எஸ். மத்திய மற்றும் மாநில அரசுகளுக்கெதிரானச் செயல்படுகிறது என்ற காரணத்தாலே அதற்கெதிராக நடவடிக்கையெடுக்கத் தேவையில்லை. சட்டங்களுக்குட்பட்ட அதன் பிரசாரங்களை நீங்கள் அனுமதிக்கலாம். ஆனால் அதன் செயல்பாடுகள் எல்லை மீறிப் போகின்றதால் மாநில அரசுகள் அதன் நடவடிக்கைகளை கவனமாகப் பார்த்துக் கொண்டிருக்கவேண்டும். தேவையெனத் தோன்றினால், அவற்றுக்கெதிராக நடவடிக்கை எடுக்கவேண்டும்.

நாஜி இயக்கம் ஜெர்மனியில் எப்படிக் காலுன்றியது என்பதைப் பற்றி எனக்கு ஒரளவுத் தெரியும். சொந்தமாகச் சிந்தித்துச் செயல்படும் திறமை குறைவாக இருந்து, வாழ்க்கையில் ஒரு பிடிப்புமில்லாமல் இருந்த நடுத்தரக் கீழ்மட்ட மக்களை இந்த இயக்கம் தனது செயல்பாடுகளாலும் பலமான கட்டுப்பாடுகளாலும் தன்பக்கம் இழுத்துக்கொண்டது. நாஜிக் கட்சியின் கொள்கைகளும் செயல்திட்டங்களும் சாதாரண மக்களும்கூட புரிந்து கொள்ளும்படியாக இருந்தன. கடைசியில் அந்தக் கட்சியே ஜெர்மனியின் அழிவுக்கும் காரணமாக இருந்தது. இம்மாதிரியான செயல்களை இந்தியாவிலும் அனுமதித்தால் அவற்றின் பின்விளைவுகள் மிக மோசமானதாக இருக்கும். இந்தியா நிச்சயமாக அதிலிருந்து தப்பிவிடும். ஆனால், அதனால் ஏற்படும் காயங்கள் எளிதில் ஆறாது.

Manila is the capital city of the Philippines. A new legislative building was put up there some time ago and on its façade four figures have been carved representing the sources of Philippine culture. These figures are Manu, the great law-giver of ancient India; Lao-Tse, the philosopher of China; and two figures representing Anglo-Saxon law and justice, and Spain.

How amazing is this spirit of man! In spite of innumerable failings, man, throughout the ages, has sacrificed his life and all he held dear for an ideal, for truth, for faith, for country and honour. That ideal may change, but that capacity for self-sacrifice continues, and, because of that, much may be forgiven to man, and it is impossible to lose hope for him. In the midst of disaster, he has not lost his dignity or his faith in the values he cherished. Plaything of nature’s mighty forces, less than a speak of dust in this vast universe, he has hurled defiance at the elemental powers, and with his mind, cradle of revolution, sought to master them. Whatever gods there be, there is something godlike in man, as there is also something of the devil in him.

Life is too complicated and, as far as we can understand it in our present state of knowledge, too illogical, for it to be confined within the four corners of a fixed doctrine.

The deep blue Arabian Sea stretches out before me as I write; and on the other side, in the far distance, is the coast of India, passing by. I think of this vast and almost immeasurable expanse
and compare it to the little barrack, with its high walls, in Naini Prison, from where I wrote my
previous letters to you. The sharp outline of the horizon stands out before me, where the sea
seems to meet the sky; but in Gaol, a prisoner's horizon is the top of the wall surrounding him.
Many of us who were in prison are out of it to-day and can breathe the freer air outside. But many of our colleagues remain still in their narrow cells deprived of the sight of the sea and the
land and the horizon. And India herself is still in prison and her freedom is yet to come. What is
our freedom worth if India is not free?

I was assured that nothing would appear in the press, and that I need only see the Duce for a few minutes. All that he wanted to do was to shake hands with me and to convey personally his condolences at my wife’s death. So we argued for a full hour with all courtesy on both sides but with increasing strain; it was a most exhausting hour for me and probably more so for the other party. The time fixed for the interview was at last upon us and I had my way. A telephone message was sent to the Duce’s palace that I could not come.

Any vital action springs from the depths of the being. All the long past of the individual and even of the race has prepared the background for that psychological moment of action. All the racial memories, influences of heredity and environment and training, subconscious urges, thoughts and dreams and actions from infancy and childhood onwards, in their curious and tremendous mix-up, inevitably drive to that new action, which again becomes yet another factor influencing the future. Influencing the future, partly determining it, possibly even largely determining it, and yet, surely, it is not all determinism.

Elections were an essential and inseparable part of the democratic process and there was no way of doing away with them. Yet, often enough, elections brought out the evil side of man, and it was obvious that they did not always lead to the success of the better man. Sensitive persons, and those who were not prepared to adopt rough-and-ready methods to push themselves forward, were at a disadvantage and preferred to avoid these contests. Was democracy then to be a close

The only alternative to coexistence is codestruction.

There is something very wonderful about the high achievements of science and modern technology (which no doubt will be bettered in the near future), in the superb ingenuity of scientific instruments, in the amazingly delicate and yet powerful machines, in all that has flowed from the adventurous inquiries of science and its applications, in the glimpses into the fascinating workshop and processes of nature, in the fine sweep of science, through its myriad workers, in the realms of thought and practice, and, above all, in the fact that all this has come out of the mind of man.

But I do not believe in any of these or other theories and assumptions as a matter of religious faith. They are just intellectual speculations in an unknown region about which we know next to nothing. They do not affect my life, and whether they were proved right or wrong subsequently, they would make little difference to me.

The deep blue Arabian Sea stretches out before me as I write; and on the other side, in the far distance, is the coast of India, passing by. I think of this vast and almost immeasurable expanse and compare it to the little barrack, with its high walls, in Naini Prison, from where I wrote my previous letters to you. The sharp outline of the horizon stands out before me, where the sea seems to meet the sky; but in Gaol, a prisoner's horizon is the top of the wall surrounding him. Many of us who were in prison are out of it to-day and can breathe the freer air outside. But many of our colleagues remain still in their narrow cells deprived of the sight of the sea and the land and the horizon. And India herself is still in prison and her freedom is yet to come. What is our freedom worth if India is not free?

Above all, the Governments of China and Eire, poor in their own resources, full of their own difficulties, yet having had bitter experience themselves of famine and misery and sensing what ailed the body and spirit of India, gave generous help.

Discontent is the spur of progress.