“It is wrong to consider that courts are established for the benefit of the people. Those who want to perpetuate their power do so through the courts. If people were to settle their own quarrels, a third party would not be able to exercise any authority over them. Truly, men were less unmanly when they settled their disputes either by fighting or by asking their relatives to decide for them. They became more unmanly and cowardly when they resorted to the courts of law. It was certainly a sign of savagery when they settled their disputes by fighting. Is it any less so, if I ask a third party to decide between you and me? Surely, the decision of a third party is not always right. The parties alone know who is right. We, in our simplicity and ignorance, imagine that a stranger, by taking our money, gives us justice.”
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Source: Hind Swaraj (1909), Gandhi's foundational book (chapter on lawyers/courts), p. 48.
About this quote
Handing a quarrel to an outside authority quietly transfers power to that authority. The people actually involved usually know the truth of it better than any stranger paid to judge. Settling things directly is harder and less tidy, but it keeps the matter—and the relationship—with those it belongs to.
When to use it
- Two neighbors work out a disputed fence line over coffee instead of each hiring a lawyer.
- Business partners write their own split terms rather than letting an arbitrator carve up the company.
- Siblings dividing a parent's belongings talk it through directly instead of escalating to a mediator who never knew the family.

