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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: From Gandhi's autobiography on English-medium schooling of Indian children; candidate is truncated (trailing 'They').
About this quote
Raising a child to think in a borrowed tongue from infancy can quietly sever them from the culture, family, and community that formed them. The worry isn't that a second language is useless — it's that a first tongue carries roots, and trading it away too early leaves a child fluent but unmoored.
When to use it
- A family raising kids abroad keeps a weekly dinner where only the grandparents' language is spoken.
- A school adds home-language literacy classes so immigrant children learn to read in their mother tongue first.
- A parent reads bedtime stories in their native language instead of defaulting to the more prestigious one.