Mahatma Gandhi Quotes
It is no easy task to do away with a thing that is established. We, therefore, say that the non-beginning of a thing is supreme wisdom.
Gandhi, Mahatma. The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. Vol. 37, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India, 1970, p. 347.
There are a few modern progressive conservatives who believe this point of view, but most generally resist change.
This statement is very revealing in that it illustrates the attitude of the establishment of most developing nations. Traditional change is OK as long as it is not does transformational—ie as long as it does not make any meaningful changes. But modernization requires transformational change; without it there is no major reform and all institutions and power structures remain in their positions.
Many conservatives of the 19th Century honestly believed that for a well-grounded man, it was impossible to make a radical moral or cultural change. Froude thought that it was but should be done very carefully and sparingly. See {636915}.
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist, who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British rule, and in turn inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. The honorific Mahātmā (Sanskrit: "great-souled", "venerable"), first applied to him in 1914 in South Africa, is now used throughout the world.
