--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The only things that separates us from…" description: "\"The only things that separates us from the brute, with which we have so much in common, is the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong.\" — Maha..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/mahatma-gandhi-23_brutes_the-only-things-that-separates-us-from-t_2126029.jpg" --- # The only things that separates us from the brute, with… ![“The only things that separates us from the brute, with which we have so much in common, is the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/mahatma-gandhi-23_brutes_the-only-things-that-separates-us-from-t_2126029.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/mahatma-gandhi-23_brutes_the-only-things-that-separates-us-from-t_2126029.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/mahatma-gandhi-23_brutes_the-only-things-that-separates-us-from-t_2126029.jpg) > “The only things that separates us from the brute, with which we have so much in common, is the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong.” [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. He highlights moral judgment as the key difference between humans and animals, emphasizing ethical discernment. **In simple terms:** Moral judgment separates us from animals. Key Takeaway Cultivate ethical discernment. Themes ethics humanity morality Mood inspirational philosophical Type ethical reflective When to use this quote - education - lawmaking - leadership - conflict resolution Key Concepts philosophy moral psychology Questions to Reflect On - What defines right versus wrong in diverse societies? - How can societies nurture moral discernment? A Different Perspective Moral judgments can be culturally subjective. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Right and wrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-and-wrong/) ## Related quotes > [ When I go into the studio - it \[words\] has to sound the way I heard it in my head. So that's probably one… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kendrick-lamar/when-i-go-into-the-studio-it-words-has-to-sound-the-way-i-heard-it-in/) [Kendrick Lamar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kendrick-lamar/) > [Thanks to Allah, I trust myself to distinguish between right and wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammad-amir/thanks-to-allah-i-trust-myself-to-distinguish-between-right-and-wrong/) [Mohammad Amir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammad-amir/) > [What is Moral Courage? It is the ability to distinguish right from wrong and having so distinguished it, be prepared to say so,irrespective of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-manekshaw/what-is-moral-courage-it-is-the-ability-to-distinguish-right-from/) [Sam Manekshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-manekshaw/) > [Man has reason, discrimination and free-will such as it is. The brute has no such thing. It is not a free agent, and knows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-has-reason-discrimination-and-free-will-such-as-it-is-the-brute/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Non-cooperation is an attempt to awaken the masses, to a sense of their dignity and power. This can only be done by enabling them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/non-cooperation-is-an-attempt-to-awaken-the-masses-to-a-sense-of-2/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Nonviolence is the law of our species as violence is the law of the brute. The spirit lies dormant in the brute, and he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nonviolence-is-the-law-of-our-species-as-violence-is-the-law-of-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/to-call-woman-the-weaker-sex-is-a-libel-it-is-man-s-injustice-to-3/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [In man, reason quickens and guides feelings; in brute, the soul lies ever dormant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/in-man-reason-quickens-and-guides-feelings-in-brute-the-soul-lies/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Nonviolence is the law of the human race and is infinitely greater than, and superior to, brute force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nonviolence-is-the-law-of-the-human-race-and-is-infinitely-greater/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [True paurusha, true bravery, consists in driving out the brute in us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/true-paurusha-true-bravery-consists-in-driving-out-the-brute-in-us/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [In this age of the rule of brute force, it is almost impossible for anyone to believe that any one else could possibly reject…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/in-this-age-of-the-rule-of-brute-force-it-is-almost-impossible-for/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Man must choose either of the two courses, the upward or the downward; but as he has the brute in him, he will more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-must-choose-either-of-the-two-courses-the-upward-or-the-downward/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman. If by strength is meant brute strength, then, indeed,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/to-call-woman-the-weaker-sex-is-a-libel-it-is-man-s-injustice-to/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [In the code of the satyagrahi, there is no such thing as surrender to brute force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/in-the-code-of-the-satyagrahi-there-is-no-such-thing-as-surrender-to/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [War with all its glorification of brute force is essentially a degrading thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/war-with-all-its-glorification-of-brute-force-is-essentially-a/) [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 Brutes quotes > [Et tu Brute! (You too, Brutus!)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/et-tu-brute-you-too-brutus/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Agnosticism is the natural attitude of the evolutionist. How can a brute mind comprehend spiritual things?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-jennings-bryan/agnosticism-is-the-natural-attitude-of-the-evolutionist-how-can-a/) [William Jennings Bryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-jennings-bryan/) > [War with all its glorification of brute force is essentially a degrading thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/war-with-all-its-glorification-of-brute-force-is-essentially-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The philosophic spirit of inquiry may be traced to brute curiosity, and that to the habit of examining all things in search of food.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-winwood-reade/the-philosophic-spirit-of-inquiry-may-be-traced-to-brute-curiosity/) [William Winwood Reade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-winwood-reade/) > [A good soldier is a blind, heartless, soulless, murderous machine. He is not a man. His is not a brute, for brutes kill only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/a-good-soldier-is-a-blind-heartless-soulless-murderous-machine-he-is/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [In order to increase his pleasures, man has intentionally added to the number and pressure of his needs, which in their original state were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/in-order-to-increase-his-pleasures-man-has-intentionally-added-to-the/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [LAOCOON, n. A famous piece of antique scripture representing a priest of that name and his two sons in the folds of two enormous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/laocoon-n-a-famous-piece-of-antique-scripture-representing-a-priest/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [What took me decades to learn, these kids can get on the Internet...What I learned by brute force, dealing out hands, they learn on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doyle-brunson/what-took-me-decades-to-learn-these-kids-can-get-on-the-internet-what/) [Doyle Brunson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doyle-brunson/) > [In the code of the satyagrahi, there is no such thing as surrender to brute force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/in-the-code-of-the-satyagrahi-there-is-no-such-thing-as-surrender-to/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The civil magistrate cannot function without some ethical guidance, without some standard of good and evil. If that standard is not to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-civil-magistrate-cannot-function-without-some-ethical-guidance/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Our reverence for the nobility of manhood will not be lessened by the knowledge that man is in substance and in structure, one with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/our-reverence-for-the-nobility-of-manhood-will-not-be-lessened-by-the/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force--nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/they-were-conquerors-and-for-that-you-want-only-brute-force-nothing/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [When under the influence of certain (or some) reasons (or causes) (alcohol, war, etc - added Spir here) the low instincts are unbridled (or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/african-spir/when-under-the-influence-of-certain-or-some-reasons-or-causes-alcohol/) [African Spir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/african-spir/) > [I was broken in body, soul, and spirit. My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-was-broken-in-body-soul-and-spirit-my-natural-elasticity-was/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [The more a man cultivates the arts the less he fornicates. A more and more apparent cleavage occurs between the spirit and the brute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/the-more-a-man-cultivates-the-arts-the-less-he-fornicates-a-more-and/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) Browse all 375 Brutes quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The only things that separates us from the brute, with which we have so much in common, is the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mahatma Gandhi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-only-things-that-separates-us-from-the-brute-with-which-we-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Brutes" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-only-things-that-separates-us-from-the-brute-with-which-we-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/mahatma-gandhi-23_brutes_the-only-things-that-separates-us-from-t_2126029.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/mahatma-gandhi-23_brutes_the-only-things-that-separates-us-from-t_2126029.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3d/mahatma-gandhi-23_brutes_the-only-things-that-separates-us-from-t_2126029.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The only things that separates us from the brute, with which we have so much in common, is the capacity to…” — 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": "The only things that separates us...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-only-things-that-separates-us-from-the-brute-with-which-we-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-only-things-that-separates-us-from-the-brute-with-which-we-have/#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 } } ] } ```