“The golden rule is to act fearlessly upon what one believes to be right.”
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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 (Young India era; anthologized in 'The Way to God'); plausibly genuine but no exact dated primary citation confirmed.
About this quote
Knowing what's right is the easy half; the hard half is doing it when there's a cost, and fear is what usually opens the gap between the two. The discipline is to let your honest sense of what's right move you first, before you've tallied who might be displeased or what it might cost.
When to use it
- A junior analyst tells the room the forecast is wrong, even with senior colleagues nodding along.
- A bystander steps between a bully and his target instead of filming it from a safe distance.
- A teenager returns the extra change a cashier handed her, though no one would ever have known.