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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; earliest traced print is the compilation 'The Wit and Wisdom of Gandhi' (ed. Homer Jack, 2005), not a dated primary.
About this quote
Often the answer isn't hidden so much as buried under assumptions, half-facts, and old habits of thought. The work is less about stacking up clever arguments and more about clearing what obscures — once the clutter is gone, the thing that was there all along stands plain.
When to use it
- A team drops its pet theories about a bug and, freed of them, spots the obvious cause in minutes.
- Someone finally questions a rumor about a neighbor and finds the plain reality was never complicated.
- A student stops overthinking a proof and sees the simple step the confusion had been hiding.