“The lesson was so indelibly burnt into me that a large part of my time during the twenty years of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby- not even money, certainly not my soul.”
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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: Gandhi, An Autobiography (Experiments with Truth); well-known passage on his years as a lawyer reconciling cases.
About this quote
Steering two sides toward a settlement instead of a courtroom brawl can look like leaving money on the table. In practice it often costs nothing real, and it spares the slow corrosion a drawn-out fight leaves on everyone involved, your own conscience included.
When to use it
- A contractor talks a client out of a lawsuit and splits the difference, keeping both the fee and the relationship.
- Two neighbors settle a fence dispute over coffee rather than lawyers, and stay on speaking terms.
- A manager mediates between two feuding staff instead of firing one, and the whole team steadies.