Quotation
Last reviewed:
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Mohandas K. Gandhi · Moral and political thought · Modern · late 20th-century slogan
What does it mean?
Be the change you wish to see in the world. The seven-word line does not appear in the Collected Works. A longer 1913 passage about changing yourself, and the world changing its attitude, is the text people compress. That passage is a different card, and it is not this slogan. A rival reading says the advice is what he meant, so the compression is harmless. As advice the slogan is incomplete. Some changes are not the sort a single person's conduct can be. As a quotation it is false.
Did Mohandas K. Gandhi really say this?
The library’s label is Misattributed. The seven-word line does not appear in the Collected Works. A longer 1913 passage about changing yourself, and the world changing its attitude, is the text people compress. That passage is included separately and is not this slogan.
Where it comes from
No such sentence in Gandhi's writings; a later slogan
Approximate date: late 20th-century slogan.
How to use it
Use the longer, sourced passage if his authority matters to you. If you only needed a nudge to act in line with your values, at a school or in a ward, you can give yourself the nudge without a citation. The nudge does not become his by being virtuous.
A mindset reading
Gandhi is a lesson in how a moral celebrity attracts lines that sound like him. Fit is the forger's friend. The more a fake matches the reputation, the less people check the Collected Works.
Understand the philosophy
The slogan tells you to embody the reform you want. It does not say what to do when the reform is not a personal habit. That silence is part of why it travels, and part of why it is a bad summary even of the longer passage.
- change
- self
- society
FAQ
What does it mean?
Be the change you wish to see in the world. The seven-word line does not appear in the Collected Works. A longer 1913 passage about changing yourself, and the world changing its attitude, is the text people compress. That passage is a different card, and it is not this slogan. A rival reading says the advice is what he meant, so the compression is harmless. As advice the slogan is incomplete. Some changes are not the sort a single person's conduct can be. As a quotation it is false.
Did Mohandas K. Gandhi really say this?
Misattributed. The seven-word line does not appear in the Collected Works. A longer 1913 passage about changing yourself, and the world changing its attitude, is the text people compress. That passage is included separately and is not this slogan.
Which work is it in?
No such sentence in Gandhi's writings; a later slogan Approximate date: late 20th-century slogan.