Experiments with Truth
In late 1925 Mahatma Gandhi lived at Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad. Swami Anand, the manager of the Navajivan Press, asked him to write his life story. A friend warned Gandhiji against it. The friend said that writing an autobiography was a Western habit, and that people who wrote them became vain or had to retract their words later. Gandhiji saw the point, but he still wanted to write. He gave his work the full title "The Story of My Experiments with Truth". It was not a life story, he explained, but a record of tests he had run on himself.
Most people treat their lives as a finished case. They defend their old choices and they hide their mistakes. Gandhiji treated his days like hours in a laboratory. He tested diets, vows, fasting, and political work, and then he wrote down where he was wrong. When an experiment failed, he changed his conduct instead of protecting his pride. That turns living into an ongoing trial rather than a fixed claim.
Therefore
Treat what you believe as something to test in daily life. When a choice produces a poor outcome, report the result and alter the method.
Navajivan, 29 November 1925
Gandhiji started writing in Gujarati for his weekly paper, Navajivan, on 29 November 1925. He produced one chapter every week, even when travel and sickness made the deadline difficult. His secretary, Mahadev Desai, translated each chapter into English for Young India, the weekly he edited. Navajivan published the chapters in two volumes in 1927 and 1929. The weekly schedule forced Gandhiji to keep the chapters short and plain. Underneath the tight schedule was a simple idea. He did not write about the famous political years after 1921, because he wanted readers to study the method, not worship the man.
A small reminder, on the notebook or the desk, that our habits are experiments and mistakes are just data to learn from.
$3.50
2.5 inches vinyl · weatherproof · ships in 1–3 days
Mix & save: 3 for $9 · 5 for $14 · 10 for $25· free shipping at ten
- Weatherproof vinyl
- Ships from Wayzata in 1–3 business days
- Secure checkout
If anything is wrong, we'll refund or replace it. Read the policy