“Speed is irrelevant if you are going in the wrong direction.”
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Attribution note
A very popular Gandhi-attributed line, but repeated searching turned up only quote aggregators and no dated primary source, so it cannot be verified despite its ubiquity.
Likely origin: No primary Gandhi source found. Widely attributed to Gandhi across quote sites (some cite 'All Men Are Brothers') but with no verifiable original text.
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Efficiency feels like progress, so it's tempting to keep accelerating without checking the heading. But energy poured into the wrong task just reaches the wrong place sooner. The useful pause is to confirm the goal is actually right before optimizing how fast you chase it.
When to use it
- A startup ships features fast for a year before realizing customers wanted something entirely different.
- A student crams every night for exams in a major she's already lost interest in.
- A runner logs huge mileage on flat roads while her goal race is built almost entirely on hills.