“hold that believers who have to see the same God in others that they see in themselves, must be able to live amongst all with sufficient detachment. And the ability to live thus can be cultivated, not by fighting shy of unsought opportunities for such contacts, but by hailing them in a spirit of service”
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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: M. K. Gandhi, An Autobiography (c.1925-29); on seeing the same God in others requiring detachment cultivated through service.
About this quote
Treating everyone as equally worthy calls for a certain evenness — you can't play favorites and truly mean it. That balance isn't grown by dodging awkward or unwanted encounters, but by walking into them looking for a way to be useful. Service, repeated, is what steadies the regard you hold for people.
When to use it
- Instead of avoiding a difficult neighbor, someone offers to help with his yard and finds the old tension easing.
- A nurse gives the rudest patient the same steady care as the kindest, using the shift as deliberate practice.
- Rather than sidestep a prickly colleague, she volunteers to partner with him on a task and evens out her view of him.