Clearing the dust off Macaulay’s “famous quote”
Many of you must have come across this “famous quote” of Macaulay in which he appears to be praising the wealth, cultural and spiritual heritage of India:
“I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native culture and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation.”
Some of you may have also tried to locate the original source of this quote - a search that most likely ended in frustration.
I had my doubts about the quote ever since I first read it and I also wrote about this once before -specifically mentioning that the accuracy of the quote was questionable and it needed further verification.
A few days ago, Anirban forwarded me this email by Michel Danino which suggests that my doubts were correct and the quote is actually fiction. Read on:
