ABSTRACT
Albert Einstein said that what characterizes people age is perfection of means and confusion of goals. With some clarifications, this would also be a good way to describe Mahatma K. Gandhi's approach to violence. Nonviolence was Gandhi's "shock therapy" intended to awaken humanity from its mindless application of violence. It is the chemotherapy for the cancer that has spread throughout the entire organism, perhaps the only therapy that could still shake, and eventually liberate, both the oppressor and the oppressed. Gandhi was well aware that nonviolence has its limitations. When it is so applied, then the best we can accomplish is to do the right things for the wrong reasons. Gandhi indicated that compassionate and loving attitude is more important than holding on to the letter of nonviolence; if there is no other way to eliminate the suffering of a dying living being, use violence to prevent the unnecessary prolonging of torture.
