ANSWERS: 13
  • I think what Ghandi was trying to say was that the only person you can control is yourself. If you're trying to effect a change in the way people behave, you have to be the first person to change the way you behave. What this way of thinking does is preclude the possibility of hypocrisy. Ghandi challenges you not to just say everyone else needs to change first.
  • In my over-simplification of things... Ghandi is saying that we should walk the talk. Its a hard thing to accomplish, especially when people find it so easy to "do as I say, not as I do". The way to accomplish it is to rise above - its too easy to just be jabberjaws - just look at politicians!
  • Why can't people be more precise with their quotes? I'm sorry but whoever this Ghandi bloke is he clearly is not very wise.
  • He's saying "step up and lead the way". You do that by BEING: by embodying the qualities that you would like to see more of in the world. It's a simple and profound call to personal responsibility, e.g. "stop waiting for someone else to change the world", and "stop sitting around moaning and complaining", and "wake up, if you are resigned or think this isn't about you". One nice thing about great leaders: they can say a lot very succinctly sometimes.
  • I have done it...I stopped the cycle of abuse. Not much for the whole world but in my little corner of the world it mattered.
  • A fantastic quote! If you want to see something changing, just be yourself the change. If you are changing yourself as you want to change, the world will change.
  • i agree with this. we truly only have the power to change ourselves anyway. if we all worked toward improving ourselves, accepting others, and taking accountability for our actions, instead of blaming others, we could sure get through this a lot easier. :)
  • I not only believe in this philosophy, I followed it. When I finally found a place to live after being homeless, I swore to start up a charity or campaign to make the general public realise that homeless people are NOT all alcoholics, drug addicts, just plain lazy drop-outs or mentally ill and that we are EXACTLY the same as everyone else, because they ARE everyone else. Homelessness can happen to literally anyone and everyone at any time in their life, due to just a few, seemingly minor, unfortunate events. Everyone who heard me make this claim wold me that I couldn't do it. Noone would listen to someone just off the streets and so I should just concentrate on getting my own life straight and concentrate on myself instead. I refused to accept this and started a little campaign on the BBC Action site which gradually grew and grew until I formally founded the charity HISH - Homeless Is Still Human. Through my charity, I was constantly meeting with media people, UK politicians and Members of the House of Lords, as well as other political lobbyists and campaigners. As a result I have been help a few homeless people, change the policies of some local councils and even the UK government to a small extent by getting them to reconsider their policies regarding the homeless and setting up better schemes and help for the homeless and newly housed. I may not have been able to help as many people as I wished, or to continue the charity work as long as I wished, due to my falling ill and now being confined to a wheelchair. But the point is that I DID make a difference for a while, no matter HOW small it was and how short a time it was. I believed that people needed to be made aware of how easily they could be in the position of being homeless themselves, and so change how they viewed other homeless people. When people realise that they could so easily end up in the same situation, they tend to sympathise with them a bit more. By the way, to those of you that think that you could never end up homeless because you have a comfortable life and are financially secure, I was an accountant, ran two sucessful businesses and was a millionaire several times over. So if I could go from being in such a secure financial position to living rough on the streets, through no fault of my own (it wasn't bad investment or any mistakes on my part like that. I was nearly killed and robbed of everything I owned (including my house) by members of my own family, so leaving me with nothing and having to sleep in shop doorways), then so could any one of you reading this now, or anyone that you care about, your loved ones or family members. So before you judge that guy or woman who is laying at the side of the road, sleeping in a cardboard box, just remember that it could be you, or someone you care about in that box all too easily. While I was living on the streets, or running my charity, I met people that were having to sleep rough that were formally businesspeople, many ex-service-people, professional people, even a former MP (UK politician) and Lord of the Realm (held a title - was actually really a Duke, and yes I knew it wasn't a false claim to his title as I recognised him personally as who he claimed to be) and many others that had ended up on the streets through no fault of their own. Divorce, illness, loss of job, unexpected debt, theft, and many other reasons were all common reasons for people ending up on the streets.
  • our own inner steps of change transmute outwards, affecting others, enabling change to begin degree by degree from such a small point, from within oneself. if by chance the change is negative, eg: fear or hatred, then that change will grow outwards as well. hopefully we must all want to see good change in this world, so we should start with small steps of positive change from within, and yes, it will work, it can happen, the gears have been put into action, little by little.........:)
  • No not always.
  • Yes, I do. You accomplish it by practicing what you preach.
  • I dont know who Ghandi was talking to or what context it was being used in. It doesnt necessarily mean anything positive. What if it was directed at someone egotistically spouting a stupid idea they thought would solve everything?
  • i think hes right

Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC

Answerbag | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy