“For it is an unbroken torture to me that I am still so far from Him, who, as I fully know, governs every breath of my life, and whose offspring I am. I know that it is the evil passions within that keep me so far from Him, and yet I cannot get away from them.”
Share this quote
Probable attribution
This saying is widely associated with Mahatma Gandhi, but the attribution is not supported by a reliable primary source.
Likely origin: M. K. Gandhi, An Autobiography, Introduction (signed 'M. K. Gandhi, The Ashram, Sabarmati, 26th November 1925').
About this quote
There's an honesty in admitting you fall short of what you most aspire to, and that your own appetites are what hold you back. Naming the gap without pretending it's closed keeps the striving alive — the point isn't to claim you've arrived, but to keep facing the distance without excuses.
When to use it
- Someone trying to quit a habit admits plainly that he keeps relapsing, and neither excuses it nor gives up the effort.
- A person owns that his temper still gets the better of him, and treats that admission as the start of the real work.
- At year's end, she honestly notes how far her actions still sit from the person she means to become.