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.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Sympathy is what you have for someone after they die, pity you have for someone when they don't have a date to the biggest dance of the year. Empathy is what I do to you when you judge me. Envy is having pity on yourself. Can you discern the rest for yourself?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote contrasts different emotional responses to human experiences, emphasizing the complexity of feelings in various situations.
Mahatma Gandhi's quote highlights the nuanced nature of human emotions, contrasting sympathy, pity, empathy, and envy. Sympathy is reserved for ultimate tragedies like death, while pity is often superficial, felt towards someone lacking a social experience like a date. Empathy relates to deeper interpersonal feelings and is tied to individual judgment, whereas envy represents self-pity. The closing invitation to discern suggests the importance of understanding these emotions in broader contexts.
Themes
SympathyPityEmpathyEnvyHuman Emotions
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on understanding human emotions during a psychology course.
More from Mahatma Gandhi
All quotes →Love never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents never revenges itself.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
Mahatma GandhiRead
The real test of nonviolence lies in its being brought in contact with those who have contempt for it.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Mahatma GandhiRead
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.
Mahatma GandhiRead
Similar quotes
When you are annoyed at someone's mistake, immediately look at yourself and reflect how you also fail; for example, in thinking that good equals money, or pleasure, or a bit of fame. By being mindful of this you'll quickly forget your anger, especially if you realize that the person was under stress, and could do little else. And, if you can, find a way to alleviate that stress.
Marcus AureliusRead
If men, through fear, fraud, or mistake, should in terms renounce or give up any natural right, the eternal law of reason and the grand end of society would absolutely vacate such renunciation. The right to freedom being the gift of Almighty God, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave.
Samuel AdamsRead
The Divine Truth is greater than any religion or creed or scripture or idea or philosophy.
Sri AurobindoRead
Without God man has no reference point to define himself. 20th century philosophy manifests the chaos of man seeking to understand himself as a creature with dignity while having no reference point for that dignity.
R. C. SproulRead
We are still masters of our fate. We are still captains of our souls.
Winston ChurchillRead
For me Christ was not to be bought for thirty pieces of silver but with my heart's blood. We buy not cheap in this market.
Dorothy DayRead