“True love is boundless like the ocean and, swelling within one, spreads itself out and, crossing all boundaries and frontiers, envelops the whole world.”
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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; carried in the Gandhi anthology 'Pathway to God' (comp. M.S. Deshpande) and libquotes; the original letter/essay date is not pinned.
About this quote
The point is scale. Affection that stays small circles only your own household or clique, while love worth the name keeps expanding until strangers count too. It grows by being spent rather than hoarded, and the real test is whether it reaches people who can never repay you.
When to use it
- A volunteer who began by helping her own street ends up cooking weekly meals for a shelter across town.
- A family that keeps setting an extra plate for whoever on the block is alone that week.
- After a flood, neighbors who barely spoke pool their trucks and tools to rebuild each other's homes.