“I did once seriously think of embracing the Christian faith. The gentle figure of Christ, so full of forgiveness that he taught his followers not to retaliate when abused or struck, but to turn the other cheek - I thought it was a beautiful example of the perfect man.”
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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: Reported by Millie Graham Polak in her memoir of Gandhi (Mr. Gandhi: The Man); Gandhi's recollection of admiring Christ. Candidate wording is condensed.
About this quote
What draws the admiration here is the refusal to hit back: meeting insult or blows without retaliating, and answering cruelty with forgiveness. That response reads not as weakness but as the mark of a fully realized person, someone secure enough to have no need of revenge.
When to use it
- Insulted in a meeting, a person answers calmly instead of firing back, and the room's respect shifts toward them.
- A shopkeeper wronged by a rude customer chooses courtesy over a scene, refusing to trade blow for blow.
- A sibling absorbs a cutting remark without hitting back, which quietly ends the long cycle of jabs between them.