Roderick Matthews > Quotes

“India, created by collective leadership and built on principles of diversity and tolerance, has become a country addicted to debate; Pakistan,”
― Roderick Matthews, Jinnah vs. Gandhi

“Two men are sitting in the back seat of a slow-moving car. They are both politicians. No words pass between the two. The taller man is legendarily averse to small talk, and the shorter one has nothing useful to say to his taciturn neighbor. They have known each other for decades and once were allies, but conflicting ideas and ambitions estranged them long ago. The two men in the car, both experienced lawyers, are perfectly aware of the constitutional position. In the back seat, the pair look strongly ill-matched. One is immaculately dressed in a suit of smooth-finished fabric, the other wears coarse khadi cloth. They share, perhaps, only one thing – an unnatural thinness. The two most recognizable men in India dominate the stage of national politics and are looked up to by millions as leaders, spokesmen and exemplars. They possess many strengths that later generations will come to praise and envy. The taller one is Mohammad Ali Jinnah, life-president All India Muslim League. And the shorter one is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi”.
(Jinnah Vs. Gandhi by Roderick Matthews)”
― Roderick Matthews

“Fighting violence with violence is like fighting wrong with more wrong, thus compounding the evil without introducing the good. For Gandhi, evil could only be conquered by superior virtue, not superior force. All”
― Roderick Matthews, Jinnah vs. Gandhi

“One popular perception of Gandhi is that of a mystic dreamer who blithely wandered into the harsh world of politics, in which he strove to remain fastidiously holy and which he ultimately failed to understand. This”
― Roderick Matthews, Jinnah vs. Gandhi