--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Civilization is that mode of conduct…" description: "\"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..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/mahatma-gandhi-23_character_civilization-is-that-mode-of-conduct-whi_1677565.jpg" --- # Civilization is that mode of conduct which points out to… ![“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.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/mahatma-gandhi-23_character_civilization-is-that-mode-of-conduct-whi_1677565.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/mahatma-gandhi-23_character_civilization-is-that-mode-of-conduct-whi_1677565.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/412/mahatma-gandhi-23_character_civilization-is-that-mode-of-conduct-whi_1677565.jpg) > “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.” [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. Moral conduct guides humanity toward duty; mastering mind and passions leads to self‑knowledge. **In simple terms:** Morality guides duty and self‑knowledge. Key Takeaway Cultivate ethical habits and self‑control. Themes morality duty self‑knowledge mindfulness Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - Leadership - personal development - conflict resolution Key Concepts Ethics philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - How does personal discipline affect societal duty? - What obstacles hinder moral consistency? A Different Perspective Moral ideals can clash with practical realities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Citizenship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/citizenship/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Civilization Mode](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization-mode-622132/) [Duty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/duty/) [Ethics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethics/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Mastery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mastery/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality/) [Morality Attain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morality-attain-925012/) [Observance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observance/) [Observance Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observance-morality-925010/) [Observe Morality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/observe-morality-925011/) [Passion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/passion/) [Path](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/path/) [Performances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performances/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) ## Related quotes > [To observe morality is to attain mastery over our mind and our passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/to-observe-morality-is-to-attain-mastery-over-our-mind-and-our/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Performance of duty and observance of morality are convertible terms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/performance-of-duty-and-observance-of-morality-are-convertible-terms/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [There is nothing which strengthens faith more than the observance of morality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/there-is-nothing-which-strengthens-faith-more-than-the-observance-of/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Civilization is that mode of conduct which points out to man the path of duty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/civilization-is-that-mode-of-conduct-which-points-out-to-man-the-path-2/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The Society or Fraternity of Freemasons is more in the nature of a system of Philosophy or of moral and social virtues taught by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-howard-taft/the-society-or-fraternity-of-freemasons-is-more-in-the-nature-of-a/) [William Howard Taft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-howard-taft/) > [Ours is a civil fight, and imprisonment as a civil prisoner has got to be earned by the strict observance of the programme.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/ours-is-a-civil-fight-and-imprisonment-as-a-civil-prisoner-has-got-to/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Rights of true citizenship accrue only to those who serve the State to which they belong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/rights-of-true-citizenship-accrue-only-to-those-who-serve-the-state/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Good government is no substitute for self-government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/good-government-is-no-substitute-for-self-government/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Love requires that true education should be easily accessible to all and should be of use to every villager in this daily life. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/love-requires-that-true-education-should-be-easily-accessible-to-all/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Be the compromise you want to see in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/be-the-compromise-you-want-to-see-in-the-world/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [If anywhere the day is made holy for the mere day's sake - if anyone set up its observance on a Jewish foundation, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther/if-anywhere-the-day-is-made-holy-for-the-mere-day-s-sake-if-anyone/) [Martin Luther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther/) > [The worst sinners, according to Jesus, are not the harlots and publicans, but the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress and grooming,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-nibley/the-worst-sinners-according-to-jesus-are-not-the-harlots-and/) [Hugh Nibley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-nibley/) > [All worldly pursuits have but one unavoidable and inevitable end, which is sorrow; acquisitions end in dispersion; buildings in destruction; meetings in separation; births…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milarepa/all-worldly-pursuits-have-but-one-unavoidable-and-inevitable-end/) [Milarepa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milarepa/) > [There cannot be a surer rule, nor a stronger exhortation to the observance of it, than when we are taught that all the endowments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/there-cannot-be-a-surer-rule-nor-a-stronger-exhortation-to-the/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [ \[Islam\] Leaves no room of human legislation in an Islamic state, because herein all legislative functions vest in God and the only function left… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abul-a-la-maududi/islam-leaves-no-room-of-human-legislation-in-an-islamic-state-because/) [Abul A'la Maududi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abul-a-la-maududi/) ## 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 Character quotes > [This may sound strange, but although I feel like I know everything about my characters, the brand of shampoo they use, how many cavities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-honeyman/this-may-sound-strange-but-although-i-feel-like-i-know-everything/) [Gail Honeyman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-honeyman/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. 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