"Truth never damages a cause that is just"
About this Quote
The brilliance is in how Gandhi weaponizes transparency without sounding like a scold. “Never” is absolute, almost courtroom language, turning truth into an audit. He’s not merely praising honesty; he’s setting a test for legitimacy. A just cause, in this framing, has nothing to lose by telling the whole story - including its own mistakes. That subtext matters because nationalist movements, like states, are tempted to mythologize themselves. Gandhi refuses the shortcut. He insists that ends and means are fused: a liberation struggle built on deception will reproduce the very coercion it claims to oppose.
Context sharpens the stakes. Under British rule, truth-telling wasn’t an abstract virtue; it was a tactic. Satyagraha, often translated as “truth-force,” depended on making oppression visible - through nonviolent resistance that provoked the state into revealing its brutality. The more candid the protester, the more cornered the colonizer. Gandhi’s claim also anticipates modern political media dynamics: scandals don’t destroy movements so much as expose what they were willing to excuse. If the cause collapses under truth, he implies, it was never just - only convenient.
Quote Details
| Topic | Truth |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Gandhi, Mahatma. (2026, January 17). Truth never damages a cause that is just. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/truth-never-damages-a-cause-that-is-just-36742/
Chicago Style
Gandhi, Mahatma. "Truth never damages a cause that is just." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/truth-never-damages-a-cause-that-is-just-36742/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Truth never damages a cause that is just." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/truth-never-damages-a-cause-that-is-just-36742/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.













