# Quote — Mahatma Gandhi, Hind Swaraj

> It is wrong to consider that courts are established for the benefit of the people. Those who want to perpetuate their power do so through the courts. If people were to settle their own quarrels, a third party would not be able to exercise any authority over them. Truly, men were less unmanly when they settled their disputes either by fighting or by asking their relatives to decide for them. They became more unmanly and cowardly when they resorted to the courts of law. It was certainly a sign of savagery when they settled their disputes by fighting. Is it any less so, if I ask a third party to decide between you and me? Surely, the decision of a third party is not always right. The parties alone know who is right. We, in our simplicity and ignorance, imagine that a stranger, by taking our money, gives us justice. (p. 48)

- Author: [Mahatma Gandhi](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mahatma-gandhi.md)
- Book: [Hind Swaraj](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mahatma-gandhi/hind-swaraj.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi#Hind_Swaraj_(1909)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/mahatma-gandhi/hind-swaraj/it-is-wrong

## More from this book

> I believe that the civilization India evolved is not to be beaten in the world. Nothing can equal the seeds sown by our ancestors, Rome went, Greece shared the same fate; the might of the Pharaohs was broken; Japan has become Westernized; of China nothing can be said; but India is still, somehow or other, sound at the foundation. The people of Europe learn their lessons from the writings of the men of Greece or Rome, which exist no longer in their former glory. In trying to learn from them, the Europeans imagine that they will avoid the mistakes of Greece and Rome. Such is their pitiable condition. In the midst of all this India remains immovable and that is her glory. It is a charge against India that her people are so uncivilized, ignorant and stolid, that it is not possible to induce them to adopt any changes. It is a charge really against our merit. What we have tested and found true on the anvil of experience, we dare not change. Many thrust their advice upon India, and she remains steady. This is her beauty: it is the sheet-anchor of our hope.
>
> Civilization is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty. Performance of duty and observance of morality are convertible terms. To observe morality is to attain mastery over our mind and our passions. So doing, we know ourselves. The Gujarati equivalent for civilization means “good conduct”.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mahatma-gandhi/hind-swaraj/i-believe-that.md)

> We who seek justice will have to do justice to others.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mahatma-gandhi/hind-swaraj/we-who-seek.md)

> In reality there are as many religions as there are individuals.... Religions are different roads converging to the same point. What does it matter that we take different roads, so long as we reach the same goal. Wherein is the cause for quarreling?

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mahatma-gandhi/hind-swaraj/in-reality-there.md)