“If there is any substance in what I have said, will not the great missionary bodies of India, to whom she owes a deep debt of gratitude for what they have done and are doing, do still better and serve the spirit of Christianity better by dropping the goal of proselytising while continuing their philanthropic work?”
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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 via the essay collection 'Third Class in Indian Railways' (1917); his appeal for missionaries to drop proselytising.
About this quote
Help offered with a hidden condition — believe what I believe — quietly compromises the help. Service given for its own sake, with no ledger of conversions, honors the giver's ideals more fully, because the moment aid becomes a lever to change someone, gratitude curdles into suspicion.
When to use it
- A charity that feeds families without pushing its politics earns trust a partisan one never will.
- A tutor who helps a struggling kid with no agenda beyond the grade sees him actually improve.
- A neighbor who lends tools freely, expecting nothing back, becomes the person others rely on.