A Man Is But The Product

From Gandhi's Ethical Religion (Madras: S. Ganesan, 1922), Chapter 6, approximately p. 61–62; a digitized copy is held at the University of Michigan library. This is one of Gandhi's more reliably sourced maxims, with a confirmed book, publisher, and year. The principle underpins his practice of Satyagraha (truth-force): Gandhi believed that inner transformation — controlling one's thoughts and beliefs — was the precondition for any durable outward change, whether personal or political. His emphasis on thought as constitutive of character drew on the Bhagavad Gita's teaching on the disciplined mind.