On Photographs Of Myself


January 02, 2015

Every week, we feature excerpts by Gandhi that lend insight into his values and personal practices.

Below is a letter Gandhi wrote to a director of Library of the Boys' Work Association, who had requested an autographed photograph of Gandhi to hang on their walls.


March 26, 1926

To: Jos. E. Dennison, Esq.
Director
Two Rivers Boys' Work Association
H.P. Hamilton School
Two Rivers, Wisconsin

March 26, 1926

Dear friend,

I have your letter. I regret to have to inform you that I do not keep any photograph of myself. And for many years now I have not even given a sitting to a photographer. There are however photographs sold in the bazaar. They are all snapshots. In my opinion they are all caricatures.

Yours sincerely,
M.K. Gandhi
The Ashram, Sabarmati

Be The Change

Don't look in the mirror for the next week. Consider the question: who am I without my body?