--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man and his deed are two distinct things…" description: "\"Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation and a wicked deed dis-approbation, the doer of the deed, wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/742/mahatma-gandhi-23_cases_man-and-his-deed-are-two-distinct-things_1544608.jpg" --- # Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good… ![“Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation and a wicked deed dis-approbation, the doer of the deed, whether good or wicked always deserves respect or pity as the case may be. Hate the sin and not the sinner is a precept which though easy enough to…” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/742/mahatma-gandhi-23_cases_man-and-his-deed-are-two-distinct-things_1544608.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/742/mahatma-gandhi-23_cases_man-and-his-deed-are-two-distinct-things_1544608.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/742/mahatma-gandhi-23_cases_man-and-his-deed-are-two-distinct-things_1544608.jpg) > “Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation and a wicked deed dis-approbation, the doer of the deed, whether good or wicked always deserves respect or pity as the case may be. Hate the sin and not the sinner is a precept which though easy enough to understand is rarely practised, and that is why the poison of hatred spreads in the world.” [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. Respect the person, not just their actions; hate the act, not the actor. **In simple terms:** Judge deeds, not people. Key Takeaway Separate sin from sinner. Themes compassion justice forgiveness Mood reflective empathetic Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - conflict resolution - justice reform - personal relationships Key Concepts moral philosophy ethical behavior Questions to Reflect On - How can we practice compassion toward wrongdoers? - What limits exist in separating sin from sinner? A Different Perspective People often conflate actions with identity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approbation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approbation/) [Approbation Wicked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approbation-wicked-5759787/) [Cases](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cases/) [Deed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deed/) [Deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeds/) [Deserve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deserve/) [Doers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doers/) [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Good deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-deeds/) [Hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate/) [Hatred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred/) [Man Deed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-deed-1438699/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Poison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Sinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sinner/) [Spread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spread/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Wicked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wicked/) [Wicked Deed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wicked-deed-1438700/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation and a wicked deed disapprobation, the doer of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-and-his-deed-are-two-distinct-things-whereas-a-good-deed-should/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Tell me,' asked Stas, 'what is a wicked deed?' 'If anyone takes away Kali's cow,' he answered after a brief reflection, 'that then is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henryk-sienkiewicz/tell-me-asked-stas-what-is-a-wicked-deed-if-anyone-takes-away-kali-s/) [Henryk Sienkiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henryk-sienkiewicz/) > [The doer is merely a fiction added to the deed ? the deed is everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-doer-is-merely-a-fiction-added-to-the-deed-the-deed-is-everything/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [If our extinction proceeds slowly enough to allow a moment of horrified realization, the doers of the deed will likely be quite taken aback…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliezer-yudkowsky/if-our-extinction-proceeds-slowly-enough-to-allow-a-moment-of/) [Eliezer Yudkowsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliezer-yudkowsky/) > [“Like many young women, I mistakenly thought that the best way of feeling better about myself was to get other people to like me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-day/like-many-young-women-i-mistakenly-thought-that-the-best-way-of/) [Elizabeth Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-day/) > [“when we say of any one that he is generous. The word generosity expresses a certain state of mind, but being a term of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/when-we-say-of-any-one-that-he-is-generous-the-word-generosity/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [Man's first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart, and next to escape the censures of the world. If the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/man-s-first-care-should-be-to-avoid-the-reproaches-of-his-own-heart/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [To retaliate against the relatives of the co-religionists of the wrong-doer is a cowardly act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/to-retaliate-against-the-relatives-of-the-co-religionists-of-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The approbation of others is a stimulus of which one must sometimes be wary. The feeling of one's own strength makes one modest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-cezanne/the-approbation-of-others-is-a-stimulus-of-which-one-must-sometimes/) [Paul Cezanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-cezanne/) > [Egotism is more like an offense, than a crime; though it is allowable to speak of yourself, provided nothing is advanced in favor; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/egotism-is-more-like-an-offense-than-a-crime-though-it-is-allowable/) [Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/) > [Real non-co-operation is non-co-operation with evil and not with the evil-doer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/real-non-co-operation-is-non-co-operation-with-evil-and-not-with-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [It is folly to seek the approbation of any being besides the Supreme.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/it-is-folly-to-seek-the-approbation-of-any-being-besides-the-supreme/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Hang your merit. I don't seek anyone's approbation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hang-your-merit-i-don-t-seek-anyone-s-approbation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our self-love is mortified, when we think our opinions, and even our tastes, customs, and dresses, either arraigned or condemned; as, on the contrary,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/our-self-love-is-mortified-when-we-think-our-opinions-and-even-our/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [The sacrifice which causes sorrow to the doer of the sacrifice is no sacrifice. Real sacrifice lightens the mind of the doer and gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-sacrifice-which-causes-sorrow-to-the-doer-of-the-sacrifice-is-no/) [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 Approbation quotes > [“Like many young women, I mistakenly thought that the best way of feeling better about myself was to get other people to like me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-day/like-many-young-women-i-mistakenly-thought-that-the-best-way-of/) [Elizabeth Day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-day/) > [Our self-love is mortified, when we think our opinions, and even our tastes, customs, and dresses, either arraigned or condemned; as, on the contrary,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-chesterfield/our-self-love-is-mortified-when-we-think-our-opinions-and-even-our/) [Lord Chesterfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-chesterfield/) > [Hang your merit. I don't seek anyone's approbation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hang-your-merit-i-don-t-seek-anyone-s-approbation/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is folly to seek the approbation of any being besides the Supreme.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/it-is-folly-to-seek-the-approbation-of-any-being-besides-the-supreme/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Egotism is more like an offense, than a crime; though it is allowable to speak of yourself, provided nothing is advanced in favor; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/egotism-is-more-like-an-offense-than-a-crime-though-it-is-allowable/) [Johann Georg Ritter von Zimmermann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-georg-ritter-von-zimmermann/) > [The approbation of others is a stimulus of which one must sometimes be wary. The feeling of one's own strength makes one modest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-cezanne/the-approbation-of-others-is-a-stimulus-of-which-one-must-sometimes/) [Paul Cezanne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-cezanne/) > [Man's first care should be to avoid the reproaches of his own heart, and next to escape the censures of the world. If the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/man-s-first-care-should-be-to-avoid-the-reproaches-of-his-own-heart/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“when we say of any one that he is generous. The word generosity expresses a certain state of mind, but being a term of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/when-we-say-of-any-one-that-he-is-generous-the-word-generosity/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [“Whenever you commend, add a compelling reason for doing so; it is this which distinguishes the approbation of a man of sense from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-steele/whenever-you-commend-add-a-compelling-reason-for-doing-so-it-is-this/) [Richard Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-steele/) > [We thirst for approbation, yet cannot forgive the approver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-thirst-for-approbation-yet-cannot-forgive-the-approver/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [I like approbation. Any actor who tells you they don't is lying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dance/i-like-approbation-any-actor-who-tells-you-they-don-t-is-lying/) [Charles Dance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dance/) > [“Respect cannot be inherited, respect is the result of right actions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/respect-cannot-be-inherited-respect-is-the-result-of-right-actions/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [We ask advice but we mean approbation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-caleb-colton/we-ask-advice-but-we-mean-approbation/) [Charles Caleb Colton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-caleb-colton/) [Browse all 14 Approbation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approbation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Man and his deed are two distinct things. 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