A life Inspired
Gandhi: A life Inspired By Lynn M. Hamilton
My coffee cup rating:
☕️☕️☕️☕️
Mahatma Gandhi was not a name I remember hearing in history class. It wasn’t until I starting diving into quotes that his name started popping up. In fact, before reading this book I had virtually no background on who he was apart from his inspiring quotes. This all changed when reading Gandhi: A life inspired by Lynn Hamilton. As going into this book blind about any details about Gandhi's life, Hamilton did a great job of building a detailed picture of his life journey. Even a reader with a decent knowledge of Gandhi’s life would be sure to find things they didn’t know. A couple of things stood out to me about Gandhi that I found interesting.
Firstly, as Hamilton is quick to point out, Gandhi came from very humble beginnings. He was a mediocre academic at best and had no standout qualities or abilities. He went to law school in London, but his degree never really became applicable to his life’s work. What he did find during his studies was an unending desire to learn and read. He absorbed the writings of many great authors including George Bernard Shaw, Henry David Thoreau, and Leo Tolstoy. This hunger for learning and self-improvement set the foundation for what Gandhi would later become. I think this skill is one so many people overlook, yet has been the catalyst for so many, including Gandhi to influence the world in great ways.
“Living faith in his God means acceptance of the brotherhood of mankind. It also means equal respect for all religions. It would be height of intolerance...to believe that your religion is superior to other religions and that you would be justified in wanting others to change over to your faith.”
Secondly, Gandhi really was an equal rights activist in more ways than one. The oppression Indians experienced in South Africa during the late 1800's ignited a fire under Gandhi that grew into his life’s work. Not only did he fight against racism, but he was able to bridge the gap dividing differing religions, seeing purpose and validity in them all. I think Gandhi was ahead of his time in this thinking. So much inequality and oppression have been done in the name of religion past and present, and I feel like even today, this challenge still haunts us.
This book gave a very detailed overview in a surprisingly short read of Gandhi’s public life and achievements. After closing its final pages, I was left with a longing to dive deeper into the thoughts and personal life of Gandhi. This may be more of a symptom than a goal of this book, but nonetheless, if you want to understand Mahatma Gandhi’s life journey this is a great place to begin.
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Here are a few more quotes from Gandhi the I’ve really enjoyed:
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."
-Mahatma Gandhi
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
“Glory lies in the attempt to reach one’s goal and not in reaching it.”
-Mahatma Gandhi