Gandhi’s Quote on Western Civilization

FOOD FOR THOUGHT, 21 Oct 2024

Kwame Anthony Appiah - TRANSCEND Media Service

Someone asked Mahatma Gandhi what he thought of western civilization, and he famously replied:

“I think it would be a very good idea.”

Like many of the best stories, alas, this one is probably apocryphal; but also, like many of the best stories, it has survived because it has the flavor of truth. But my own response would have been very different:

“I think you should give up the very idea of western civilization.”

Ditto! [TMS Editor]

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Kwame Anthony Appiah, professor of philosophy and law at New York University, is a British-born, Ghanaian-American philosopher and cultural theorist. He is author of the award-winning In My Father’s House.


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This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 21 Oct 2024.

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