Selected Letters of Gandhi : Part-1

TO ASHRAM CHILDREN


Chapter-14: Watch Your Friends

Hardvar,
Phalgun shudi 3, Monday

Boys and girls,
Children are innocent, loving and benevolent by nature. Evil comes in only when they become older. They are innocent even in their mischief. If this holds good in your case, each of you should serve others, helping them to rise higher and saving them from a fall. You should watch and if necessary warn one another. Your watch should not be like that of a policeman but of God. God watches us all not with a view to punish but to chasten. Such should be the nature of your watch also. You must teach others what they do not know. Whoever speaks an untruth should be lovingly turned away from it. Remember, you must keep the promise you have made.