---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: An eye for an eye would make the whole…"
description: "\"An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind.\" — Mahatma Gandhi"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/mahatma-gandhi-23_blind_an-eye-for-an-eye-would-make-the-whole-w_2700099.jpg"
---

#  An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind.

![“An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/mahatma-gandhi-23_blind_an-eye-for-an-eye-would-make-the-whole-w_2700099.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/mahatma-gandhi-23_blind_an-eye-for-an-eye-would-make-the-whole-w_2700099.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/mahatma-gandhi-23_blind_an-eye-for-an-eye-would-make-the-whole-w_2700099.jpg)

> “An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind.”

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Retaliation leads to mutual destruction, not justice.

**In simple terms:** An eye for an eye blinds everyone.

Key Takeaway

Seek restorative rather than punitive solutions.

Themes

justice nonviolence ethics

Mood

reflective serene

Type

ethical philosophical

When to use this quote

- legal disputes
- personal grudges
- international war

Key Concepts

moral philosophy conflict resolution

Questions to Reflect On

- How does forgiveness affect societal healing?
- What alternatives exist to retributive justice?

A Different Perspective

Some may argue proportional punishment deters crime.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) [Eye for an eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye-for-an-eye/) [Nonviolence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonviolence/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Revenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revenge/) [Whole world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/whole-world/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/)

## Related quotes

> [An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/an-eye-for-an-eye-will-only-make-the-whole-world-blind/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [An eye for an eye can make the whole world blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-eye-for-an-eye-can-make-the-whole-world-blind/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [An eye for eye, will only make the whole world blind. Takon's](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/takon-s/an-eye-for-eye-will-only-make-the-whole-world-blind-takon-s/)

[Takon's](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/takon-s/)

> [An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and the world will be blind and toothless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-eye-for-an-eye-and-a-tooth-for-a-tooth-and-the-world-will-be-blind/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [An eye for an eye only ends by making the whole world blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdallah/an-eye-for-an-eye-only-ends-by-making-the-whole-world-blind/)

[Abdallah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdallah/)

> [“An eye for an eye just makes the world blind”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-k-gandhi-2/an-eye-for-an-eye-just-makes-the-world-blind/)

M.K Gandhi

> [An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, well a heart for a heart makes us all heartless!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/unkown/an-eye-for-an-eye-makes-the-whole-world-blind-well-a-heart-for-a/)

Unkown

> [Gandhi was right: if we all live by 'an eye for an eye' the whole world will be blind. The only way out is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-b-smedes/gandhi-was-right-if-we-all-live-by-an-eye-for-an-eye-the-whole-world/)

[Lewis B. Smedes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-b-smedes/)

> [“Hans: An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind, I believe that wholeheartedly. Billy: No it doesn't. There'll be one guy left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seven-psychopaths/hans-an-eye-for-an-eye-leaves-the-whole-world-blind-i-believe-that/)

Seven Psychopaths

> [They says an eye for an eye will make the world blind, but world is already blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/they-says-an-eye-for-an-eye-will-make-the-world-blind-but-world-is/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-eye-for-an-eye-only-ends-up-making-the-whole-world-blind/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-eye-for-an-eye-only-makes-the-whole-world-blind/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-eye-for-an-eye-makes-the-whole-world-blind/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-eye-for-an-eye-and-the-whole-world-would-be-blind/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Eye for eye and the world will go blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/eye-for-eye-and-the-world-will-go-blind/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

## More by Mahatma Gandhi

> [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [Devotion required by the Gita is no soft-hearted effusiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/devotion-required-by-the-gita-is-no-soft-hearted-effusiveness/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/so-long-as-we-fear-the-outside-world-we-must-cease-to-think-of-swaraj/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [I do not want a kingdom, or heaven; what I want is to remove the trouble of the oppressed, the poor, and the needy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-a-kingdom-or-heaven-what-i-want-is-to-remove-the/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [Religions are not for separating men from one another, they are meant to bind them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/religions-are-not-for-separating-men-from-one-another-they-are-meant/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [“It was only in South Africa that I got over this shyness, though I never completely overcame it. It was impossible for me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-was-only-in-south-africa-that-i-got-over-this-shyness-though-i/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [“Where there is life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/where-there-is-life/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [If it was wrong to seek God in a stone, how was it right to seek Him in a book called the Gita, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/if-it-was-wrong-to-seek-god-in-a-stone-how-was-it-right-to-seek-him/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-spirit-of-democracy-cannot-be-established-in-the-midst-of/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them-a desire, a dream, a vison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/champions-are-made-from-something-they-have-deep-inside-of-them-a/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [My motto is "Unite now, today if you can; fight if you must. But in every case avoid British intervention."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-motto-is-unite-now-today-if-you-can-fight-if-you-must-but-in-every/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [I have no disciples, being myself an aspirant after discipleship and in search of a guru.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-have-no-disciples-being-myself-an-aspirant-after-discipleship-and/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

> [Man becomes not the lord and master of all creation but he is its servant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-becomes-not-the-lord-and-master-of-all-creation-but-he-is-its/)

[Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

[Explore all 3,284 Mahatma Gandhi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/)

## More Blind quotes

> [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/)

[Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/)

> [Love is so blind, it feels right when it's wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beyonce-knowles/love-is-so-blind-it-feels-right-when-it-s-wrong/)

[Beyonce Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beyonce-knowles/)

> [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/)

[Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/)

> [“A man who saw has turned blind, A hearer deaf, A leader now leads astray!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-lichtheim/a-man-who-saw-has-turned-blind-a-hearer-deaf-a-leader-now-leads-astray/)

[Miriam Lichtheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-lichtheim/)

> [“What I shall feel to-morrow I cannot tell. Maybe I shall go blind again, for women are never two days alike in their minds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-parker/what-i-shall-feel-to-morrow-i-cannot-tell-maybe-i-shall-go-blind/)

[Gilbert Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-parker/)

> [Now the stage today is to know that Self Realization gives you experiences and then your faith is established. Not blind but open enlightened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/now-the-stage-today-is-to-know-that-self-realization-gives-you/)

[Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/)

> [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [“The heart’s blind. It’s the head that causes all the trouble. Sometimes both are stupid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-bromberg/the-heart-s-blind-it-s-the-head-that-causes-all-the-trouble-sometimes/)

[K. Bromberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-bromberg/)

> [“In the story of the blind men and the elephant, what’s usually ignored is the fact that each man’s description was correct. What Faye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-hill/in-the-story-of-the-blind-men-and-the-elephant-what-s-usually-ignored/)

[Nathan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-hill/)

> [My favorite performance would definitely be "Toxic," which was my blind audition song. It was the start of it all and it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-martinez/my-favorite-performance-would-definitely-be-toxic-which-was-my-blind/)

[Melanie Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-martinez/)

> [Our attitude towards evil must be freed from hatred, and has itself need to be enlightened in character...Satan rejoices when he succeeds in inspiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-berdyaev/our-attitude-towards-evil-must-be-freed-from-hatred-and-has-itself/)

[Nikolai Berdyaev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-berdyaev/)

> [If you are the master be sometimes blind, if you are the servant be sometimes deaf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/if-you-are-the-master-be-sometimes-blind-if-you-are-the-servant-be/)

[R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/)

> [I'm glad I'm blind and can't see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-wonder/i-m-glad-i-m-blind-and-can-t-see-it/)

[Stevie Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-wonder/)

> [Shut your eyes and you will know what I mean by thought entombed in darkness. Light comes through the senses, and not only through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/shut-your-eyes-and-you-will-know-what-i-mean-by-thought-entombed-in/)

[Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/)

> [Blind with love, my daughter has cried nightly for horses, those long-necked marchers and churners that she has mastered, any and all, reigning them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/blind-with-love-my-daughter-has-cried-nightly-for-horses-those-long/)

[Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/)

[Browse all 3,877 Blind quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Mahatma Gandhi"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/an-eye-for-an-eye-would-make-the-whole-world-blind/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Blind"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/an-eye-for-an-eye-would-make-the-whole-world-blind/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/mahatma-gandhi-23_blind_an-eye-for-an-eye-would-make-the-whole-w_2700099.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/mahatma-gandhi-23_blind_an-eye-for-an-eye-would-make-the-whole-w_2700099.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb9/mahatma-gandhi-23_blind_an-eye-for-an-eye-would-make-the-whole-w_2700099.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“An eye for an eye would make the whole world blind.” — Mahatma Gandhi",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Mahatma Gandhi",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "An eye for an eye would...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/an-eye-for-an-eye-would-make-the-whole-world-blind/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/an-eye-for-an-eye-would-make-the-whole-world-blind/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```