‘The idea of the Nation is one of the most powerful anæsthetics that man has invented. Under the influence of its fumes the whole people can carry out its systematic programme of the most virulent self-seeking without being in the least aware of its moral perversion,—in fact feeling dangerously resentful if it is pointed out.’
Tagore was an anti-imperialist who fiercely opposed British rule in India. However, Tagore was also personally wary of nationalism as an ideology despite the rise of nationalist movements in Asia that were opposing Western imperialism. The three lectures in this book are Tagore’s thoughtful reflections on the dangers of nationalism and Tagore concludes his reflections with a call for a peaceful future beyond nationalism based on cooperation and racial equality.
Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, writer, philosopher, and social reformer who had a profound influence on Indian literature and art. He was the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 and was the first non-European to win the prize.