SOME THOUGHTS ON VIOLENCE

 

SOME THOUGHTS ON VIOLENCE

Violence is uncivilized behavior. It is destructive, injurious and murderous. It implies the use of brute force. Its ferocity, roughness, savagery and wildness lead to undesirable and dangerous results.  

British poet-dramatist William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was more than right when he said “Violent delights have violent ends.”

            According to the  English essayist William Hazlitt (1778-1830) : Violence ever defeats its own ends. Where you cannot drive you can always persuade. A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles. There is a secret pride in every human heart that revolts at tyranny. You may order and drive an individual, but you cannot make him respect you.”

             The great prophet of peace and non-violence  Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) who liberated  India from the British rule without using arms and weapons says: To use violence for securing rights may seem an easy path, but it proves to be thorny in the long run. Those who live by the sword, die also by the sword. The swimmer often dies by drowning. ----Young India, June 8, 1921.

            To conclude, a line by   Martin Luther , the German priest and theologian (1483-1546) : Nothing Good ever comes of violence.

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G.R.Kanwal

10^th May 2024