“Hinduism is a living organism liable to growth and decay, subject to the laws of Nature. One and indivisible at the root, it has grown into a vast tree with innumerable branches. The changes in the season affect it. It has its autumn and its summer, its winter and its spring. It is, and is not, based on scriptures. It does not derive its authority from one book. Non-violence has found the highest expression and application in Hinduism.”
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About this quote
A living tradition isn't a rulebook frozen to a single text; it is more like a tree — rooted deep, yet growing, shedding, and renewing with the seasons. Holding beliefs this way lets them adapt without losing their core, where treating them as rigid law tends to leave them brittle instead.
When to use it
- A family keeps its holiday customs alive by letting each generation add something rather than freezing them in place.
- A long-running company holds to its founding values while updating its practices as the world around it shifts.
- A book club treats its 'rules' as flexible habits that evolve with the members instead of fixed, unbreakable law.