“I would tell the Hindus to face death cheerfully if the Muslims are out to kill them. I would be a real sinner if after being stabbed I wished in my last moment that my son should seek revenge. I must die without rancour. You may turn round and ask whether all Hindus and all Sikhs should die. Yes, I would say. Such martyrdom will not be in vain.”
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Source: Prayer meeting, 1 May 1947; Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, vol. 87, pp. 394-395.
About this quote
Refusing revenge means a wound stops with you instead of being handed to the next person. The pull to retaliate feels like loyalty, but passing it on only keeps a cycle turning. Choosing to let go, even under real threat, denies the harm its power to reproduce itself.
When to use it
- A parent whose sibling was wronged decades ago refuses to raise their kids to carry the grudge.
- After a bitter divorce, someone declines to badmouth their ex to the children or mutual friends.
- A shop owner cheated by a former partner resolves not to spend years plotting to ruin him back.