Page:Fischer - A Week with Gandhi.pdf/132

 he knows, are not pacifists, but he could not work with enemies of Indian freedom.

In his pursuit of independence there is a musical harmony between Gandhi and millions of Indians. Great leaders must have this harmony; it is the source of their greatness. Winston Churchill has manifested it in many of his speeches. He says brilliantly what so many plain English citizens say crudely to their neighbors or say to themselves at night. You follow a leader who is you in a better edition. Gandhi is father and brother to millions of semi-naked, half-starved, not-too-intellectual peasants and workingmen who want to attain dignity and prosperity through national effort. He is a chip of their block. He also answers the prayers of innumerable highly cultured Indians and mighty industrialists who resent the foreign yoke or even the mere presence of an outside overlord.

Gandhi’s life is single-tracked; he wants a free India. That, too, is characteristic of great men. Churchill’s one absorbing purpose is the preservation of Britain as a first-class power. Lenin’s was the lifting of Russia out of the feudal mire. Lincoln’s was union. Hitler’s is world conquest. A big man is all of one piece like good sculpture.