An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

The saying distills a core Gandhian argument against retaliation: responding to harm with equivalent harm may feel like justice, but it multiplies injury and corrodes the moral and social fabric. By pushing the biblical/legal maxim “eye for an eye” to its logical endpoint—universal blindness—the line frames vengeance as self-defeating, producing collective ruin rather than restoration. In Gandhi’s ethical framework, this supports satyagraha (truth-force) and ahimsa (nonviolence): the aim is to break cycles of retribution through restraint, forgiveness, and constructive action, seeking transformation of opponents rather than their punishment.

1) “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
2) “If we are to take an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, then the whole world will be blind and toothless.”