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Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Widely attributed to Gandhi; not found in his writings

PhilosophyHistory

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Nobody has found this sentence in Gandhi's writings, which fill about a hundred volumes of collected works. The earliest close match researchers have traced is from 1974, in a book by an American teacher named Arleen Lorrance. What Gandhi did write, in a 1913 newspaper article on health, in the middle of advice about snakebite, is quieter: 'If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change.' He added that as a person changes, the world's attitude towards them changes too, and that we need not wait to see what others do. The slogan turns this into a command; Gandhi's original is an observation.

Türkçe oku
Dünyada görmek istediğin değişimin kendisi ol.
Gandhi'ye atfedilir; yazılarında geçmez

Gandhi'nin yazdıkları yaklaşık yüz ciltlik bir külliyat oluşturur, ama bu cümle hiçbirinde geçmez. Araştırmacıların izini sürebildiği en eski benzer ifade 1974'te, Arleen Lorrance adlı Amerikalı bir öğretmenin kitabında karşımıza çıkar. Gandhi'nin gerçekten yazdığı cümle daha sadedir: 1913'te sağlık üzerine yazdığı bir gazete yazısında, yılan sokmasına dair öğütlerin arasında “Kendimizi değiştirebilseydik, dünyadaki eğilimler de değişirdi” der. Ardından, insan değiştikçe dünyanın ona karşı tavrının da değiştiğini ve başkalarının ne yapacağını beklememize gerek olmadığını ekler. Slogan bu düşünceyi bir buyruğa çevirir; Gandhi'nin asıl sözü ise bir gözlemdir.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Misquotation
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