To forgive is not to forget. The merit lies in loving in spite of the vivid knowledge that one that must be loved is not a friend. There is not merit in loving an enemy when you forget him for a friend.
All crime is a kind of disease and should be treated as such.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Crime is likened to a disease that requires treatment, not punishment.
In this quote, Mahatma Gandhi suggests that crime should not merely be viewed as a moral failing or a reason for punishment, but rather as a societal issue that can be addressed through understanding, rehabilitation, and the provision of support. By treating crime as a disease, it emphasizes the need to address its root causes, such as poverty, education, and social injustice, and to heal individuals and communities rather than simply penalizing wrongdoing.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about criminal justice reform, this quote could be used to advocate for more rehabilitative approaches rather than punitive measures.
More from Mahatma Gandhi
All quotes βLove never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents never revenges itself.
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
The real test of nonviolence lies in its being brought in contact with those who have contempt for it.
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
The devotion of such titans of spirit as Lenin to an Ideal must bear fruit. The nobility of his selflessness will be an example through centuries to come, and his Ideal will reach perfection.
Similar quotes
Here we find the moat of thieves. And just as a lizard, with a quick, slick slither, Flicks across the highway from hedge to hedge, Fleeter than a flash, in the battering dog-day weather, A fiery little monster, livid, in a rage, Black as any peppercorn, came and made a dart At the guts of the others, and leaping to engage One of the pair, it pierced him at the part Through which we first draw food; then loosed its grip And fell before him, outstretched and apart.
[β¦] but I believe that things are extremely complicated, and her looking over me was as complicated as anything could ever be. But it was also incredibly simple.
Men imagine that they communicate their virtue or vice only by overt actions, and do not see that virtue or vice emit a breath every moment.
No Hindu community, however low, will touch cow's flesh. On the other hand, there is no community which is really an Untouchable community which has not something to do with the dead cow. Some eat her flesh, some remove the skin, some manufacture articles out of her skin and bones.
If there is any God, there is only one way to please him, and that is by a conscientious discharge of your obligations to your fellow men.
A vacuum is a hell of a lot better than some of the stuff that nature replaces it with.