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Probable attribution
This saying is widely associated with Mahatma Gandhi, but the attribution is not supported by a reliable primary source.
Likely origin: Hindi-edition text of a Gandhi work (labelled Hind Swaraj); genuine translated content carrying an OCR footnote marker ('बुद्धिमानी4').
About this quote
The people, jobs, and lessons that lifted you deserve respect precisely because you no longer depend on them. Scorning your beginnings once you've arrived is both ungrateful and shortsighted — the same supports may still hold up others climbing behind you.
When to use it
- A newly promoted employee who keeps mentoring the entry-level team they came from instead of looking down on it.
- A founder who stays loyal to the small supplier that extended credit through the lean early years.
- A first-generation graduate funding a scholarship at the community college that got them started.