Dealing Compassionately with Your Enemies and Living Simply

I received this morning, the newsletter of the Gandhi Memorial Center, which is located at 4748 Western Avenue, in Washington D.C. (www.gandhimc.org). It included the following passage.

During his detention in Aga Kahn Palace (during World War II) Gandhi gave Khadi (homespun cotton cloth) handkerchiefs as a birthday present to the jail superintendent. Each one bore the initials of the superintendent embroidered by Gandhi, who was then 74 years old. He never cared for show, but detested a shabby, torn dress. At a meeting when he noticed a hole ina worker’s dress he sent a note, saying “to wear torn clothes is a sign of laziness … I could not appreciate it, for it is not a sign of poverty or simplicity.” Gandhi believed that a simple life, whether rich or poor, can be lived elegantly with dignity.