“Hate the sin and not the sinner”
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Attribution note
Gandhi does use these exact words in his autobiography, but he explicitly frames it as a long-standing precept (traceable to Augustine's Epistle 211), not an original Gandhi saying. Keep as a searchable site-only line; do not present as originally Gandhi's, and exclude from spoken export.
Likely origin: Precept originating with St. Augustine, Epistle 211 (c. 424 AD): 'Cum dilectione hominum et odio vitiorum' ('with love for mankind and hatred of sins'). Gandhi quoted it in An Autobiography (1929) as an existing precept, not his own coinage.
About this quote
Older than its Gandhi attribution — the precept traces to Augustine, who was quoted rather than coined by Gandhi — this splits a person's wrongdoing from their worth. The hard part is doing both at once: opposing the act firmly while still treating the actor as someone who can change.
When to use it
- A parent condemns the lie a child told while making clear the child himself is still loved and trusted to do better.
- A manager addresses an employee's dishonesty directly but doesn't brand him a lost cause in front of the whole team.
- A victim supports real accountability for an offender's crime without wishing the person's entire life destroyed.