1. Wealth without work
Gandhi meant receiving/hoarding wealth without working genuinely for it.
2. Leisure without conscience
In my opinion, Gandhi meant to say that when pleasure is prompted by one's
conscience, it is real in-depth pleasure--ecstatic in nature. All other
pleasures are not that satisfying at all unless conscience is a part of it.
3. Knowledge without character
I believe Gandhi meant that knowledge is power indeed. If there is no real
character in a person, this power can be misused.
4. Commerce without morality
I believe he meant to say that any commercial gains to intentionally hurt
others (no moral) is a sort of sin. Please also note that Gandhi has also
said that morality is contraband in war.
5. Science without Humanity
I believe, Gandhi simply meant to say that science should serve humanitarian
needs and enhancements to better human life in every way. When it is not
done that way, science fails in its basic purpose.
6. Worship without Sacrifice
I believe Gandhi meant to say that when we worship God, it should be done to
get in touch with our soul/spirit and listen to it what it says. And when it
is done only for some material gains, it forfeits its purpose. I believe
that is why he said that a nation that is capable of limitless sacrifice is
capable of rising to limitless heights. The purer the sacrifice, the quicker
the progress. I believe, Gandhi also compared the material worship to
outward betterment. He wished to see that our chief energy be concentrated
upon achieving reform from within.
7. Politics without principle
To Gandhi, political power was not an end but one of the means of enabling
people to better their condition in every department of life. That's why he
emphasized the need for principle. That's why he also said that good
government (political) is no substitute for self- government. Gandhi had
also said that a leader (political) is useless when he acts against the
prompting of his own conscience, surrounded as he must be by people holding
all kinds of views. He will drift like an anchorless ship if he has not the
inner voice to hold him firm and guide him. I believe that is what he meant
by principle.
Some people might pick on Gandhi as a pacifist.
That's fine as it may seem. However, to Gandhi, the force of nonviolence was
infinitely more wonderful and subtle than the material forces of nature,
like electricity. That's why Gandhi said that perfect nonviolence is
impossible so long as we exist physically only, for we would want some space
at least to occupy. This tells us that nonviolence is an impossibility
without the possession of unadulterated fearlessness as Gandhi put it all
together.
I do hope that such explanations provide a little better picture of Gandhi's
quotes. However, I do appreciate different people interpreting Gandhi's
quotations in different unique ways more so when so much brevity is used.
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