“A person who believes in fighting and does not regard it as violence, though it is violence, is here being asked to kill.”
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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: 'The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi' (Gandhi's Gita translation/discourses, c.1926, pub. 1946). Introductory commentary on Arjuna/violence, not verified against primary text.
About this quote
We tend to sanitize our own aggression by giving it another name, whether duty, defense, or just getting even, so we never admit it is violence at all. The honest move is to face what a choice actually does, stripped of the flattering label, and reckon with it as it truly is rather than as we'd prefer to see it.
When to use it
- A man calls his online pile-on 'holding people accountable' while it plainly runs on cruelty.
- A parent insists harsh spanking is discipline, not the hitting it obviously is.
- A trader frames a ruthless deal as 'how the game is played' to avoid naming who it hurts.