“A society organized and run on the basis of complete nonviolence would be the purest anarchy... That State is perfect and non-violent where the people are governed the least.”
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Source: Harijan (21 July 1940)
About this quote
The ideal being sketched is order that rises from within rather than from force — people disciplined enough to need almost no governing. The less a group has to be policed, the more its members have absorbed the standard themselves; outside control is mostly a substitute for that missing self-restraint.
When to use it
- A team that needs no micromanaging because each person quietly holds their own bar for good work.
- Neighbors who keep a shared courtyard clean with no posted rules, fines, or supervisor in sight.
- A classroom where students stay on task whether or not the teacher is actually watching.