58. Children

Children inherit the qualities of the parents, no less than their physical features. Environment does play an important part, but the original capital on which a child starts life is inherited from its ancestors. I have always seen children successfully surmounting the effects of evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul.

Autobiography, p. 312

The real property that a parent can transmit to all equally is his or her character and educational facilities... Parents should seek to make their sons and daughters self-reliant, well able to earn an hones livelihood by the sweat of the brow.

India, 29-10-'31

I believe implicitly that the child is not born mischievous in the bad sense of the term. If parents would behave themselves whilst the child is growing, before it is born and after, it is a well-known fact that the child would instinctively obey the law of Truth and the law of Love...And believe me, from my experience of hundreds- I was going to say thousands-of children, I know that they have perhaps a finer sense of honour than you or I have. The greatest lessons of life, if we would but stoop and humble ourselves, we would learn not from grown-up learned men, but from the so-called ignorant children. Jesus never uttered a loftier or a grander truth than when he said that wisdom cometh out of the mouth of babes. I believe it. I have noticed it in my own experience that if we would approach babes in humility and innocence, we would learned this one lesson-that what is impossible with man is child's play with God and if we have faith in that divinity which presides on the destiny of the meanest of the meanest of His creation, I have no doubt that all things are possible and in that final hope, I believe and pass my time and endeavour to obey His will. If we are to reach real peace in this world and if we are it carry on a real war, we shall have to begin with children; and of they will grow up in their natural innocence, we won't have to struggle, we won't have to pass fruitless, idle the resolutions, but we shall go from love to love and peace to peace, until at last all the corners of the world are converted with that peace and love for which, consciously or unconsciously, the while world is hungering.

Young India, 19-11-31