54. The Power of Minorities

54. The Power of Minorities

The fate of the world has been principally decided by minorities. The history of Europe bears ample testimony to the truth of this proposition. It seems to me that there is a psychological reason why minorities should have been a powerful factor in the history of mankind. Character is the invisible force which determines the destinies of nations, and an intense character is not possible in a majority. It is a force; the more it is distributed the weaker it becomes.

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* This reflection was published in New Era, Lucknow, in 1917.

“… there is a psychological reason” was changed to “there are

psychological and physiological reasons” – KAS.