--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I can retain neither respect nor…" description: "\"I can retain neither respect nor affection for government which has been moving from wrong to wrong in order to defend its immorality\" — Mahatma Gandhi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/mahatma-gandhi-23_affection_i-can-retain-neither-respect-nor-affecti_3101875.jpg" --- # I can retain neither respect nor affection for government… ![“I can retain neither respect nor affection for government which has been moving from wrong to wrong in order to defend its immorality” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/mahatma-gandhi-23_affection_i-can-retain-neither-respect-nor-affecti_3101875.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/mahatma-gandhi-23_affection_i-can-retain-neither-respect-nor-affecti_3101875.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/mahatma-gandhi-23_affection_i-can-retain-neither-respect-nor-affecti_3101875.jpg) > “I can retain neither respect nor affection for government which has been moving from wrong to wrong in order to defend its immorality” [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. Governments that repeatedly defend immoral actions lose moral legitimacy and respect. **In simple terms:** Immoral policies erode respect for authority. Key Takeaway Demand ethical governance. Themes politics ethics leadership Mood serious determined hopeful Type political philosophical When to use this quote - voting decisions - activism - policy debate - community organizing Key Concepts moral philosophy civil disobedience Questions to Reflect On - What standards should hold leaders accountable? - Can change occur without protest? A Different Perspective Complexity of defining “immorality”. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gandhi/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Immorality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/immorality/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [We cannot allow the American flag to be shot at anywhere on earth if we are to retain our respect and prestige](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-goldwater/we-cannot-allow-the-american-flag-to-be-shot-at-anywhere-on-earth-if/) [Barry Goldwater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-goldwater/) > [To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/to-retain-respect-for-sausages-and-laws-one-must-not-watch-them-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [Events that have happened during the past month have confirmed me in the opinion that the Imperial Government have acted in the Khilafat matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/events-that-have-happened-during-the-past-month-have-confirmed-me-in/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Men often become what they believe themselves to be. 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No effort should be spared to resist further addition in the shape of Gandhi worship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/there-is-already-enough-superstition-in-our-country-no-effort-should/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [My only sanction is the love and affection in which you hold me. But it has its weaknesses, as it has its strengths.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-only-sanction-is-the-love-and-affection-in-which-you-hold-me-but/) [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 Affection quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [Needs cause motivation. 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Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president. He's taken on a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-axelrod/listen-i-have-a-great-affection-and-respect-for-joe-biden-i-think-he/) [David Axelrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-axelrod/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [I am persuaded that there is no affection of the human heart more exquisitely pure, than that which is felt by a grateful son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/i-am-persuaded-that-there-is-no-affection-of-the-human-heart-more/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Our sweetest experiences of affection are meant to be suggestions of that realm which is the home of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/our-sweetest-experiences-of-affection-are-meant-to-be-suggestions-of/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Browse all 2,465 Affection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I can retain neither respect nor affection for government which has been moving from wrong to wrong in order to defend its immorality", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mahatma Gandhi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-can-retain-neither-respect-nor-affection-for-government-which-has/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affection" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-can-retain-neither-respect-nor-affection-for-government-which-has/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/mahatma-gandhi-23_affection_i-can-retain-neither-respect-nor-affecti_3101875.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/mahatma-gandhi-23_affection_i-can-retain-neither-respect-nor-affecti_3101875.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a0f/mahatma-gandhi-23_affection_i-can-retain-neither-respect-nor-affecti_3101875.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I can retain neither respect nor affection for government which has been moving from wrong to wrong in order…” — 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": "I can retain neither respect nor...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-can-retain-neither-respect-nor-affection-for-government-which-has/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-can-retain-neither-respect-nor-affection-for-government-which-has/#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 } } ] } ```