“My life is entirely at their disposal. They are free to put an end to it, whenever they wish to do so. Assaults have been made on my life in the past, but God has spared me till now, and the assailants have repented for their action. But if someone were to shoot me in the belief that he was getting rid of a rascal, he would kill not the real Gandhi, but the one that appeared to him a rascal.”
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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: Attributed to Gandhi (his statements on assassination threats); 'he would kill not the real Gandhi, but the one that appeared to him a rascal'.
About this quote
Holding your life loosely drains a threat of much of its power. If someone strikes at the version of you they've imagined, they reach only that phantom, not the person you actually are — and refusing to buy safety through fear leaves you free to keep acting from conviction rather than self-protection.
When to use it
- A whistleblower keeps reporting the truth, having made peace with the risk to her career.
- An activist attacked in the press stays steady, knowing the caricature in print isn't really him.
- A reformer refuses a friend's advice to go into hiding, judging the mission worth more than the danger.