“Mussolini is a riddle to me. Many of his reforms attract me. He seems to have done much for the peasant class. I admit an iron hand is there. But as violence is the basis of Western society, Mussolini's reforms deserve an impartial study ... What strikes me is that behind Mussolini's implacability is a desire to serve his people. Even behind his emphatic speeches there is a nucleus of sincerity and of passionate love for his people. It seems to me that the majority of the Italian people love the iron government of Mussolini.”
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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: Gandhi, letter to Romain Rolland, 20 December 1931 (after his brief Rome visit); reproduced in Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi. Content genuine; English wording is a translation variant.
About this quote
Written while trying to make sense of a figure he found repellent, the passage models a refusal to condemn on reflex: study even an opponent's actions impartially, and look for the human motive — however mistaken — behind the harshness instead of settling for a caricature.
When to use it
- Before firing off a reply, reading a critic's whole argument to find the real concern under the rude tone.
- A juror setting aside a defendant's off-putting manner to weigh only the evidence in front of her.
- Trying to understand what fear drives a difficult in-law's controlling behavior instead of writing them off.