“It was not easy to commit suicide as to contemplate it.”
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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: The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Autobiography), Part I, chapter 'A Tragedy'. Canonical: 'I saw that it was not as easy to commit suicide as to contemplate it.'
About this quote
The distance between a desperate thought and actually acting on it is far wider than despair makes it feel. In a dark moment a drastic exit can seem simple; reality proves otherwise, and that gap often gives a person just enough room to choose to keep going instead.
When to use it
- Someone furious enough to quit on the spot writes the resignation email but waits until morning to send it, and by then the urge has passed.
- A person ready to delete years of work after one harsh review closes the laptop instead, and the next day the project looks fixable.
- In the heat of an argument a partner almost walks out for good, then pauses at the door and realizes the fight is smaller than it felt.