“While in Bombay, I began, on one hand, my study of Indian law and, on the other, my experiments in dietetics in which Virchand Gandhi, a friend, joined me. My brother, for his part was trying his best to get me briefs. The study of India law was a tedious business. The Civil Procedure Code I could in no way get on with. Not so however, with the Evidence Act. Virchand Gandhi was reading for the Solicitor's Examination and would tell me all sorts of stories about Barristers and Vakils.”
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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: The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Autobiography) - Bombay law-study period, mentions the friend Virchand Gandhi.
About this quote
Entering a demanding profession usually means slogging through dull groundwork before anything clicks. Some subjects come easily and some resist you no matter how hard you try; steady effort, a few curious peers, and small side pursuits are what carry a beginner through the tedious early stretch.
When to use it
- A new nurse who finds pharmacology intuitive but struggles for months to master the ward's charting system.
- An apprentice electrician grinding through code regulations that feel lifeless before any of it makes sense on the job.
- A first-year coder who picks up the language quickly yet slogs through the team's tangled legacy documentation.