“If co-operation is a duty, I hold that non-co-operation also under certain conditions is equally a duty.”
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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: Attributed to Gandhi from the Non-Cooperation era (c.1920-21, Young India); no dated primary pinned in this review.
About this quote
Cooperation isn't automatically virtuous; it depends on what you're cooperating with. Just as helping a good effort is a duty, withdrawing your participation from a harmful one becomes a duty too. Refusing to go along can be the more demanding moral act, not a shirking of responsibility.
When to use it
- An employee declines to sign off on a falsified report even when the whole team is doing it.
- A shopper boycotts a business over its practices rather than quietly funding them week after week.
- A student refuses to help classmates cheat, treating that refusal as the right stand to take.