“"The only real, dignified, human doctrine is the greatest good of all, and this can only be achieved by uttermost self-sacrifice."”
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Attribution note
Wikiquote lists it in the Hind Swaraj subsection but explicitly as 'Adapted from', meaning the wording is a paraphrase of a genuine passage rather than a verbatim primary quotation.
Likely origin: Paraphrase adapted from Hind Swaraj (1909), Ch. 17 (Summary), in The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Vol. 10, pp. 83-84; Wikiquote labels this wording 'Adapted from', so it is not verbatim Gandhi.
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The good of everyone never arrives for free; someone has to surrender comfort, time, or advantage to make it real. That is what ties dignity to sacrifice here — the sense that a life aimed only at private gain ends up smaller than one partly spent for others.
When to use it
- Volunteers who give up their weekends so a night shelter can stay open through the coldest months.
- A founder who takes a thinner salary so early staff can be paid fairly while cash is tight.
- Neighbors who each pitch in time and tools for a shared garden that none of them owns alone.