“Our duty is very simple and plain. We want to serve the community, and in our own humble way to serve the Empire. We believe in the righteousness of the cause, which it is our privilege to espouse. We have an abiding faith in the mercy of the Almighty God, and we have firm faith in the British Constitution. That being so, we should fail in our duty if we wrote anything with a view to hurt.”
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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's early loyalist-era writing (Indian Opinion / autobiography); not independently verbatim-confirmed.
About this quote
Conviction and restraint can travel together. You can press a cause you believe in while refusing to wound people needlessly along the way. Duty here blends service with care: speak and act firmly, but never in a way whose real aim is to hurt.
When to use it
- An activist writes a hard-hitting op-ed but cuts the lines that would only humiliate opponents.
- A union rep pushes relentlessly for better wages while keeping the negotiations civil.
- A resident criticizes a bad policy at a council meeting without turning it into a personal attack on officials.