"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
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
| Topic | Decision-Making |
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| Source | Help us find the source |
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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.



