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"[asked what he thought of modern civilization] That would be a good idea."

— Mahatma Gandhi

January 1, 1970

Quote Details

Added by wikiquote-import-bot

Added on April 10, 2026

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Anti-imperialists Anti-war activists People of British India Activists from India Autobiographers

Original Language: English

Sources

The quote was attributed to Gandhi in various sources prior to Schumacher's 1979 book mentioned by Keyes above, though none have been found that mention where and when he gave this answer. The earliest located on google books being Reader's Digest, Volume 91 from 1967, p. 52, where it is attributed to a CBS News Special called "The Italians", described here as "a 1966 look at the nation and its people based on the book by Luigi Barzini", produced by Bernard Birnbaum and one of the 1966/1967 Emmy

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi

The quote was attributed to Gandhi in various sources prior to Schumacher's 1979 book mentioned by Keyes above, though none have been found that mention where and when he gave this answer. The earliest located on google books being Reader's Digest, Volume 91 from 1967, p. 52, where it is attributed to a CBS News Special called "The Italians", described here as "a 1966 look at the nation and its people based on the book by Luigi Barzini", produced by Bernard Birnbaum and one of the 1966/1967 Emmy