“If by abundance you mean everyone having plenty to eat and drink and to clothe himself with, enough to keep his mind trained and educated, I should be satisfied. But I should not like to pack more stuffs in my belly than I can digest and more things than I can ever usefully use. But neither do I want poverty, penury, misery, dirt and dust in India.”
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Source: Harijan, 2 December 1938, p. 2 — Gandhi on 'abundance' and simple material needs for India.
About this quote
Real abundance isn't piling up more than you can use; it's everyone having enough — food, clothing, a trained mind — while no one grabs a surplus that only sits and spoils. The target rests between two failures: grinding scarcity on one side, wasteful excess on the other.
When to use it
- A family that buys what it will actually eat instead of overstocking food that quietly rots.
- A town that makes sure every child is fed and schooled before anyone builds a third house.
- Keeping a wardrobe of clothes you genuinely wear rather than closets full of untouched things.