Saturday’s Quote

Ghandi in 1909, source Wikimedia.

Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being. Without interrelation with society he cannot realize his oneness with the universe or suppress his egotism. His social interdependence enables him to test his faith and to prove himself on the touchstone of reality

                                      — Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, March 21, 1929

                                         (emphasis ours)

Leave a comment

3 Comments

  1. Aristotle:

    “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. ”

    Interesting to me – I have seen this same quote but w/ “social” translated as “political”. I have inferred – perhaps unjustifiably – that the Ancient Greeks made no distinction between the social and the political.

    Tell Mr. Homegrown I said “hello!”

  2. Thank you for bringing attention to this quote! I like that interdependence & self sufficiency are both essential in this idea…we have to take care of ourselves if we’re to help others & be an asset to our community. Lovely

Comments are closed.