Quotation
Last reviewed:
“A commercial company enslaved a nation comprising two hundred millions.”
Leo Tolstoy · Moral and political thought · Modern · 1908
What does it mean?
He goes on to ask how thirty thousand ordinary men could subdue two hundred million, and answers that 'the Indians … have enslaved themselves' by taking part in the system of force. The remedy, he says, is love and refusing to cooperate with violence, not armed revolt. A rival reading says this blames the colonised for colonial power. Gandhi took the non-cooperation and set aside much of the religious framing.
Did Leo Tolstoy really say this?
The library’s label is Paraphrase or translation. Checked against the Project Gutenberg text, which carries Gandhi's introduction dated 19 November 1909. The letter answered Taraknath Das, editor of Free Hindustan. Gandhi had it translated and spread it in English and Gujarati. Wording is the published English translation.
Where it comes from
A Letter to a Hindu (dated 14 December 1908), as published with Gandhi's introduction
Approximate date: 1908.
How to use it
When people say a system is too big to change, ask what keeps it running day to day, and who does that work.
A mindset reading
An argument can be useful and uncomfortable at once. Separate what follows from the evidence from what is a moral charge.
Understand the philosophy
A Letter to a Hindu, December 1908. It led to the Gandhi–Tolstoy correspondence of 1909 to 1910, which ended with Tolstoy's long letter of 7 September 1910, two months before he died. In 1910 Gandhi named his settlement near Johannesburg Tolstoy Farm.
- power
- justice
- change
FAQ
What does it mean?
He goes on to ask how thirty thousand ordinary men could subdue two hundred million, and answers that 'the Indians … have enslaved themselves' by taking part in the system of force. The remedy, he says, is love and refusing to cooperate with violence, not armed revolt. A rival reading says this blames the colonised for colonial power. Gandhi took the non-cooperation and set aside much of the religious framing.
Did Leo Tolstoy really say this?
Paraphrase or translation. Checked against the Project Gutenberg text, which carries Gandhi's introduction dated 19 November 1909. The letter answered Taraknath Das, editor of Free Hindustan. Gandhi had it translated and spread it in English and Gujarati. Wording is the published English translation.
Which work is it in?
A Letter to a Hindu (dated 14 December 1908), as published with Gandhi's introduction Approximate date: 1908.