--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Fasting is futile unless it is…" description: "\"Fasting is futile unless it is accompanied by an incessant longing for self-restraint.\" — Mahatma Gandhi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/mahatma-gandhi-23_fasting_fasting-is-futile-unless-it-is-accompani_1329335.jpg" --- # Fasting is futile unless it is accompanied by an incessant… ![“Fasting is futile unless it is accompanied by an incessant longing for self-restraint.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/mahatma-gandhi-23_fasting_fasting-is-futile-unless-it-is-accompani_1329335.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/mahatma-gandhi-23_fasting_fasting-is-futile-unless-it-is-accompani_1329335.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/mahatma-gandhi-23_fasting_fasting-is-futile-unless-it-is-accompani_1329335.jpg) > “Fasting is futile unless it is accompanied by an incessant longing for self-restraint.” [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. Fasting alone is ineffective without a deep, ongoing desire for self-discipline. **In simple terms:** Fasting needs strong self-control. Key Takeaway Cultivate persistent self-restraint. Themes self-discipline spirituality health willpower Mood reflective determined Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal health goals - spiritual practice - weight management - mental resilience Key Concepts self-control mindfulness detoxification Questions to Reflect On - Do you truly desire self-restraint? - How can you sustain motivation? A Different Perspective Without genuine longing, fasting may become a hollow ritual. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fasting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fasting/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [Restraint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/restraint/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self restraint](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-restraint/) ## Related quotes > [The one condition for fighting for peace and liberty is to acquire self-restraint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-one-condition-for-fighting-for-peace-and-liberty-is-to-acquire/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Birth-control through self-restraint is the most desirable, sensible and totally harmless method.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/birth-control-through-self-restraint-is-the-most-desirable-sensible/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [All the four stages in a man's life are devised by the seers in Hinduism for imposing discipline and self-restraint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/all-the-four-stages-in-a-man-s-life-are-devised-by-the-seers-in/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [More caution and perhaps more restraint are necessary in breaking a fast than in keeping it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/more-caution-and-perhaps-more-restraint-are-necessary-in-breaking-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The deadliest foe of democracy is not autocracy but liberty frenzied. Liberty is not foolproof. For its beneficent working it demands self-restraint, a sane…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-hermann-kahn/the-deadliest-foe-of-democracy-is-not-autocracy-but-liberty-frenzied/) [Otto Hermann Kahn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-hermann-kahn/) > [The divine within you is stronger than anything that is without you. Therefore, be not afraid of anything. Rely on your own Inner Self,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sivananda/the-divine-within-you-is-stronger-than-anything-that-is-without-you/) [Sivananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sivananda/) > [There cannot be self-restraint in the absence of desire: when there is no adversary, what avails thy courage? Hark, do not castrate thyself, do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/there-cannot-be-self-restraint-in-the-absence-of-desire-when-there-is/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [Not just self-restraint, that old killjoy, but communal restraint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/not-just-self-restraint-that-old-killjoy-but-communal-restraint/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [When the taste for physical gratifications among them has grown more rapidly than their education . . . the time will come when men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/when-the-taste-for-physical-gratifications-among-them-has-grown-more/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [It has taken me nearly twenty years of studied self-restraint, aided by the natural decay of my faculties, to make myself dull enough to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/it-has-taken-me-nearly-twenty-years-of-studied-self-restraint-aided/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) > [“From which moment is it considered saiyam (a state free of anger-pride-deceit-greed, attachment and abhorrence)? What is the beginning of saiyam? From the moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/from-which-moment-is-it-considered-saiyam-a-state-free-of-anger-pride/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [The most important thing about the gentleman was that he was an idealist. ... He was bred up to a code of self-restraint which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/the-most-important-thing-about-the-gentleman-was-that-he-was-an/) [Richard M. Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) > [Members of royal families are born into a world of indulgence and entitlement, and the princelings who grow up that way may never have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-kluger/members-of-royal-families-are-born-into-a-world-of-indulgence-and/) [Jeffrey Kluger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-kluger/) > [Such power there is in clear-eyed self-restraint.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/such-power-there-is-in-clear-eyed-self-restraint/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“You have no idea how hard it is for me not to grab you and throw you down on my bed right now. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-lynn/you-have-no-idea-how-hard-it-is-for-me-not-to-grab-you-and-throw-you/) [Michelle Lynn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-lynn/) ## 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 Fasting quotes > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [The man of wisdom is devoid of ego even though he may appear to use it. His vacant or fasting mind is neither doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramesh-s-balsekar/the-man-of-wisdom-is-devoid-of-ego-even-though-he-may-appear-to-use/) [Ramesh S Balsekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramesh-s-balsekar/) > [How much more of the mosque, of prayer and fasting? Better go drunk and begging round the taverns. Khayyam, drink wine, for soon this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-khayy-m/how-much-more-of-the-mosque-of-prayer-and-fasting-better-go-drunk-and/) [Omar Khayyam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-khayy-m/) > [When the stomach is full, it is easy to talk of fasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/when-the-stomach-is-full-it-is-easy-to-talk-of-fasting/) [St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/) > [Fasting is not bodily hunger but bodily elevation and purity. It is not a body that hungers and longs for food, but a body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-shenouda-iii-of-alexandria/fasting-is-not-bodily-hunger-but-bodily-elevation-and-purity-it-is/) [Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-shenouda-iii-of-alexandria/) > [Fasting is truly a secret source of power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jentezen-franklin/fasting-is-truly-a-secret-source-of-power/) [Jentezen Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jentezen-franklin/) > [Surfeits kill more than fasting does.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-osborne/surfeits-kill-more-than-fasting-does/) [Dorothy Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-osborne/) > [Good Friday. Way of the Cross. Fasting and abstinence. Examine conscience. Have a really blessed day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/good-friday-way-of-the-cross-fasting-and-abstinence-examine/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I go by my own body type when it comes to fasting, which means that I would not follow some general advice or rule…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riya-sen/i-go-by-my-own-body-type-when-it-comes-to-fasting-which-means-that-i/) [Riya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riya-sen/) > [“Fasting clears away the thousand little things which quickly accumulate and clutter the body, mind and heart. It cuts through corrosion and renews our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bragg/fasting-clears-away-the-thousand-little-things-which-quickly/) Paul Bragg > [Fasting confirms our utter dependence upon God by finding in Him a source of sustenance beyond food.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/fasting-confirms-our-utter-dependence-upon-god-by-finding-in-him-a/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [Fasting makes sense if it really chips away at our security and, as a consequence, benefits someone else, if it helps us cultivate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/fasting-makes-sense-if-it-really-chips-away-at-our-security-and-as-a/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [The dogmatic and, therefore, invulnerable core in Islam is understandably simple: acknowledgement of faith, prayer, charity and fasting. Almost everything else is open to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/the-dogmatic-and-therefore-invulnerable-core-in-islam-is/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [One of the reasons intermittent fasting can work is that it reconnects you with what hunger feels like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-mohr/one-of-the-reasons-intermittent-fasting-can-work-is-that-it/) [Chris Mohr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-mohr/) > [“Fasting, prayer, and almsgiving build the third pillar of the eremitic rigor that helps to develop the spiritual life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-wencel/fasting-prayer-and-almsgiving-build-the-third-pillar-of-the-eremitic/) [Cornelius Wencel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-wencel/) [Browse all 367 Fasting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fasting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Fasting is futile unless it is accompanied by an incessant longing for self-restraint.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mahatma Gandhi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/fasting-is-futile-unless-it-is-accompanied-by-an-incessant-longing/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Fasting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/fasting-is-futile-unless-it-is-accompanied-by-an-incessant-longing/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/mahatma-gandhi-23_fasting_fasting-is-futile-unless-it-is-accompani_1329335.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/mahatma-gandhi-23_fasting_fasting-is-futile-unless-it-is-accompani_1329335.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/mahatma-gandhi-23_fasting_fasting-is-futile-unless-it-is-accompani_1329335.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Fasting is futile unless it is accompanied by an incessant longing for self-restraint.” — 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": "Fasting is futile unless it is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/fasting-is-futile-unless-it-is-accompanied-by-an-incessant-longing/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/fasting-is-futile-unless-it-is-accompanied-by-an-incessant-longing/#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 } } ] } ```