But the question, which agitates most minds, is as to whether we have
succeeded in our work of non-violent non-co-operation. There is, I am
sorry to say, a great deal of confusion of thought behind the question. It
is assumed that a movement must either succeed or fail, whereas the truth
is that human movements, I am speaking of genuine movements, neither
altogether succeed nor altogether fail. Every genuine movement proceeds
from an ideal, and the ideal is always higher than the achievement. Take
the French revolution. Was it a success? Was it a failure? To predicate
either would be a gross historical blunder. Was the non-co-operation
movement in India a success? Yes, a mighty success when we think of the
desire for Swaraj which it has succeeded in awakening throughout the
length and breadth of this vast country. It is a great success when we
think of the practical result of such awakening, in the money which the
nation contributed, in the enrolment of members of the Indian National
Congress and in the boycott of foreign cloth. I go further and say that
the practical achievement also consists of the loss of prestige suffered
by Educational Institutions and the Courts of Law and the Reformed
Councils throughout the country. If they are still resorted to, it is
because of the weakness of our countrymen. The country has already
expressed its strong desire to end these institutions. Yet it must be
admitted that from another point of view, when we assess the measure of
our success in the spirit of Arithmetic, we are face to face with "the
petty done" and "the undone vast." There is much which remains to be
accomplished. Non-violence has to be more firmly established. The work of
non-co-operation has to be strengthened, and the field of non-co-operation
has to be extended. We must be firm but reasonable. The spirit of
sacrifice has got to be further strengthened, and we must proceed with the
work of destruction and creation more vigorously than before I say to our
critics. I admit we have failed in many directions, but will you also not
admit our success where we have succeeded?