The constant putting forward of Sanskrit literature as if it were preeminently Indian should stir the national pride of some of you Tamil, Telugu, Cannarese. You have less to do with Sanskrit that we English have. Ruffianly Europeans have sometimes been known to speak of natives of India as 'Niggers', but they did not, like the proud speakers or writers of Sanskrit, speak of the people of the South as legions of monkeys. 48" - Meaning and context.">
Quoted from Malhotra, R., Nīlakantan, A. (2011). Breaking India: Western interventions in Dravidian and Dalit faultlines
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For example, in his 1886 address to graduates of the University of Madras, Governor Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant-Duff made a reference to Ramayana as follows:
The constant putting forward of Sanskrit literature as if it were preeminently Indian should stir the national pride of some of you Tamil, Telugu, Cannarese. You have less to do with Sanskrit that we English have. Ruffianly Europeans have sometimes been known to speak of natives of India as 'Niggers', but they did not, like the proud speakers or writers of Sanskrit, speak of the people of the South as legions of monkeys. 48

— M. E. Grant Duff

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "For example, in his 1886 address to graduates of the University of Madras, Governor Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant-Duff made a reference to Ramayana as follows:
The constant putting forward of Sanskrit literature as if it were preeminently Indian should stir the national pride of some of you Tamil, Telugu, Cannarese. You have less to do with Sanskrit that we English have. Ruffianly Europeans have sometimes been known to speak of natives of India as 'Niggers', but they did not, like the proud speakers or writers of Sanskrit, speak of the people of the South as legions of monkeys. 48" in the context of "Quoted from Malhotra, R., Nīlakantan, A. (2011). Breaking India: Western interventions in Dravidian and Dalit faultlines" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "M. E. Grant Duff" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 19, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
M. E. Grant Duff

About M. E. Grant Duff

Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant Duff GCSI CIE PC FRS (21 February 1829 – 12 January 1906), known as M. E. Grant Duff before 1887 and as Sir Mountstuart Grant Duff thereafter, was a Scottish politician, administrator and author. He served as the Under-Secretary of State for India from 1868 to 1874, Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1880 to 1881 and the Governor of Madras from 1881 to 1886.