“The earth provides every human being’s need, but not every human being’s greed”
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Attribution note
Variant wording ('every human being's need... greed') of the popular saying with no primary Gandhi source; attributed only via Pyarelal and unverified in the Collected Works.
Likely origin: Same 'need not greed' saying; no verified Gandhi primary (Pyarelal 1958 secondary; not found in CWMG per Snopes).
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Enough already exists; the trouble starts when wanting outruns needing. Framing the planet's limits this way puts the focus on personal restraint and fair sharing rather than squeezing more from the ground, which only feeds the same appetite that caused the shortfall.
When to use it
- A community garden feeds everyone until a couple of plots get harvested clean and resold.
- Rationing during a shortage works only when people take what they need, not what they can grab.
- A shared vacation budget lasts the whole trip when nobody overspends in the first two days.