Skip to main content

Daily Inspiration Quote by Mahatma Gandhi

"A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal"

About this Quote

Gandhi treats “policy” like a religion you’re allowed to edit. That’s the paradox doing the work: he refuses to let strategy harden into dogma, yet he demands the kind of disciplined commitment we usually reserve for faith. “Temporary creed” is a warning label against political idolatry - the tendency of movements to confuse their current plan with eternal truth. He’s saying: don’t worship the method. But also: don’t dabble.

The phrase “liable to be changed” carries a quiet rebuke to leaders who cling to yesterday’s approach out of pride, factional loyalty, or fear of looking inconsistent. Gandhi frames revision not as weakness but as moral responsibility. A policy should be changeable because reality changes, because power adapts, because ethics require recalibration when consequences reveal themselves.

Then he spikes any excuse for half-heartedness. “Apostolic zeal” is a deliberately charged metaphor in a multifaith India: it evokes missionary rigor, total dedication, evangelizing certainty. Gandhi borrows that intensity while withholding the absolutism. The subtext is managerial as much as spiritual: a nonviolent campaign cannot survive on vibes. It requires a coherent line, repeated, embodied, and defended in public and private, even when it’s unpopular or costly.

In the context of India’s freedom struggle, this is also a lesson in movement coherence. If policies shift with every provocation or headline, the British state dictates the tempo. If a policy holds, it has to be lived - not merely announced - until the moment arrives when conscience and circumstance demand a change.

Quote Details

TopicDecision-Making
SourceHelp us find the source
Cite

Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Gandhi, Mahatma. (2026, January 15). A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-policy-is-a-temporary-creed-liable-to-be-13685/

Chicago Style
Gandhi, Mahatma. "A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-policy-is-a-temporary-creed-liable-to-be-13685/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"A policy is a temporary creed liable to be changed, but while it holds good it has got to be pursued with apostolic zeal." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/a-policy-is-a-temporary-creed-liable-to-be-13685/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.

More Quotes by Mahatma Add to List
A policy is a temporary creed pursued with apostolic zeal
Click to enlarge Portrait | Landscape

About the Author

Mahatma Gandhi

Mahatma Gandhi (October 2, 1869 - January 30, 1948) was a Leader from India.

160 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes

Henry Cabot Lodge, Politician