“Children inherit the qualities of the parents, no less than their physical features. Environment does play an important part, but the original capital on which a child starts in life is inherited from its ancestors. I have also seen children successfully surmounting the effects of an evil inheritance. That is due to purity being an inherent attribute of the soul.”
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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: Autobiography, 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth' (chapter on children/heredity).
About this quote
Inheritance hands you a starting temperament, and circumstances push from there — but neither locks the outcome. The deeper self can outgrow a hard beginning, so a rough family line need not become a person's destiny; character does real work of its own.
When to use it
- A man raised around constant anger who deliberately builds a calm home for his own kids.
- Someone from a family of anxious worriers who trains himself toward steadiness.
- A child of parents who never saved learning, on her own, to handle money well.