“We are not ashamed to sacrifice a multitude of other lives in decorating the perishable body and trying to prolong its existence for a few fleeting moments, with the result that we kill ourselves, both body and 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: Attributed to Gandhi via 'Gandhi's Life in His Own Words' (compilation of his writings on diet/vivisection); not verbatim-confirmed to a dated primary.
About this quote
There is a hidden price in pampering a body that will not last: the harm done to other living things to feed our vanity slowly deadens the conscience. Chasing a bit more comfort or a few more years this way can cost far more, inwardly, than it ever buys.
When to use it
- A shopper who never asks how a bargain was produced gradually stops feeling the harm behind it.
- Someone fixated on looking younger pours money into treatments while growing indifferent to their real cost.
- A family that throws out good food nightly loses any sense of the labor and life it took to grow it.