--- 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 disapprobation, the doer of the deed, wh..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87a/mahatma-gandhi-23_respect_man-and-his-deed-are-two-distinct-things_922381.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 disapprobation, 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…” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87a/mahatma-gandhi-23_respect_man-and-his-deed-are-two-distinct-things_922381.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87a/mahatma-gandhi-23_respect_man-and-his-deed-are-two-distinct-things_922381.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/87a/mahatma-gandhi-23_respect_man-and-his-deed-are-two-distinct-things_922381.jpg) > ““Man and his deed are two distinct things. Whereas a good deed should call forth approbation and a wicked deed disapprobation, 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 practiced, 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. Good and bad deeds are separate from the person; judging the act, not the actor, prevents hatred from spreading. **In simple terms:** Judge actions, not people, to avoid hatred. Key Takeaway Separate deeds from identity. Themes ethics forgiveness justice compassion Mood hopeful determined Type political inspirational When to use this quote - conflict resolution - justice reform - personal relationships - education Key Concepts philosophy psychology religion Questions to Reflect On - What challenges arise when trying to hate the sin but not the sinner? - How can societies foster this distinction? A Different Perspective People may resist separating identity from actions, especially in intense conflicts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deed/) [Deed Disapprobation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deed-disapprobation-1438698/) [Hate Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate-sin/) [Man Deed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/man-deed-1438699/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Wicked Deed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wicked-deed-1438700/) ## Related quotes > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-and-his-deed-are-two-distinct-things-whereas-a-good-deed-should-2/) [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/) > [Hate the sin and not the sinner' is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/hate-the-sin-and-not-the-sinner-is-a-precept-which-though-easy-enough-2/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Hate the sin and not the sinner is a precept which, though easy enough to understand, is rarely practiced, and that is why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/hate-the-sin-and-not-the-sinner-is-a-precept-which-though-easy-enough/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Look to the cross, and hate your sin, for sin nailed your Well Beloved to the tree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/look-to-the-cross-and-hate-your-sin-for-sin-nailed-your-well-beloved-2/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [The heart that has really tasted the grace of Christ, will instinctively hate sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/the-heart-that-has-really-tasted-the-grace-of-christ-will/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [“Love is my sin, and thy dear virtue hate, Hate of my sin, grounded on sinful loving: O, but with mine compare thou thine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/love-is-my-sin-and-thy-dear-virtue-hate-hate-of-my-sin-grounded-on/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Look to the cross, and hate your sin, for sin nailed your Well Beloved to the tree. Look up to the cross, and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/look-to-the-cross-and-hate-your-sin-for-sin-nailed-your-well-beloved/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Be sure your love is true Show respect and honestly Hold on what is good,and hate what is sin..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariane-corbito/be-sure-your-love-is-true-show-respect-and-honestly-hold-on-what-is/) [Mariane Corbito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariane-corbito/) > [How about you hate your sin, and I'll hate my sin and we'll just love each other!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-lowry/how-about-you-hate-your-sin-and-i-ll-hate-my-sin-and-we-ll-just-love/) [Mark Lowry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-lowry/) > [“I remember Christian teachers telling me long ago that I must hate a bad man's actions but not hate the bad man: or, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/i-remember-christian-teachers-telling-me-long-ago-that-i-must-hate-a/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“You don't have to hate when it's not a sin to dislike someone or to love them from a distance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-m-fields/you-don-t-have-to-hate-when-it-s-not-a-sin-to-dislike-someone-or-to/) [L.M. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-m-fields/) > [Real repentance means coming not only to be sorry for the consequences of sin but to hate sin itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barclay/real-repentance-means-coming-not-only-to-be-sorry-for-the/) [William Barclay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barclay/) > [“The magistrate's Toryism had taught Jacob, I think - with Toryism and other forms of villainy - to hate the sin and not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-trapido/the-magistrate-s-toryism-had-taught-jacob-i-think-with-toryism-and/) [Rebecca Trapido](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-trapido/) > [Hate the sin but not the sinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/hate-the-sin-but-not-the-sinner/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## 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 Deed quotes > [Time often serves to justify a deed which seems at first unjustifiable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-p-ryan/time-often-serves-to-justify-a-deed-which-seems-at-first-unjustifiable/) [Donald P. Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-p-ryan/) > [“I discovered that everything you do is in response to a request or a suggestion made to you by some other party either inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/flann-o-brien/i-discovered-that-everything-you-do-is-in-response-to-a-request-or-a/) [Flann O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/flann-o-brien/) > [Be sure to do your duty today, and let God Take care of the outcome.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/be-sure-to-do-your-duty-today-and-let-god-take-care-of-the-outcome/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One good deed will lead to thousands more of blessings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-good-deed-will-lead-to-thousands-more-of-blessings/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you see a guy opening a car door for a girl, its one of two things, either a new girl, or a new…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-armenta/if-you-see-a-guy-opening-a-car-door-for-a-girl-its-one-of-two-things/) [Jorge Armenta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-armenta/) > [A man who is wise in speech but not in deeds is not wise for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/a-man-who-is-wise-in-speech-but-not-in-deeds-is-not-wise-for-me/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [A good deed is not just a duty, but above all, a privilege.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shari-arison/a-good-deed-is-not-just-a-duty-but-above-all-a-privilege/) [Shari Arison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shari-arison/) > [Not really what you can do, others can either. Not really what you can't do, neither can others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voeun-tivea/not-really-what-you-can-do-others-can-either-not-really-what-you-can/) [Voeun Tivea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voeun-tivea/) > [“Kindness is not about words. It isn’t spoken. It is about action. Kindness is a deed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthon-st-maarten/kindness-is-not-about-words-it-isn-t-spoken-it-is-about-action/) [Anthon St. Maarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthon-st-maarten/) > [Measuring life by what others do for us may disappoint us...But Measuring life by what we do for others will add more meaning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/measuring-life-by-what-others-do-for-us-may-disappoint-us-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The deed of love is stronger than words](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-bailey/the-deed-of-love-is-stronger-than-words/) [Pearl Bailey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pearl-bailey/) > [Through the perfect karma of good deeds, one meets the Perfect Guru, whose speech is perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-guru-granth-sahib/through-the-perfect-karma-of-good-deeds-one-meets-the-perfect-guru/) [Sri Guru Granth Sahib](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-guru-granth-sahib/) > [Reward will follow every good deed. Only by doing good deeds can a man know the true joy of living and have a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/reward-will-follow-every-good-deed-only-by-doing-good-deeds-can-a-man/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [Life is never worth worrying about deeds. Just doing is enough to get better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aamir-sheikh/life-is-never-worth-worrying-about-deeds-just-doing-is-enough-to-get/) [Aamir Sheikh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aamir-sheikh/) > [Our everyday cares, making a living, the crazy rat race of life, often make us forget the value of a good deed. Thus, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shari-arison/our-everyday-cares-making-a-living-the-crazy-rat-race-of-life-often/) [Shari Arison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shari-arison/) [Browse all 281 Deed quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deed/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Man and his deed are two distinct things. 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