“Je n'ai connu aucune distinction entre parents et inconnus, entre compatriotes et étrangers, entre blancs et hommes de couleur, entre hindous et Indiens appartenant à d'autres confessions, qu'ils soient musulmans, Parsis, chrétiens ou juifs. Je peux dire que mon coeur a été incapable de faire de telles distinctions.”
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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: French translation of a Gandhi passage on equality/brotherhood, compiled in Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha).
About this quote
Drawing lines between 'our kind' and everyone else is a habit the mind learns, not a fact it's born with — and it can be unlearned. Treating relative and stranger, insider and outsider by the same standard is what turns a stated belief in equality into something people actually feel from you.
When to use it
- A teacher gives the shy transfer student the same encouragement as the class favorites.
- A host seats a stranger with nowhere to go at the family holiday table without a second thought.
- A hiring panel judges every applicant by the work, setting aside names and accents.