The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

Not found in Gandhi’s writings. Wikiquote lists it under Disputed: it is often credited to Gandhi citing R. K. Prabhu’s The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism (1959), but it is not in that book nor in the Collected Works; Wikiquote refers to Ralph Keyes, The Quote Verifier (2006), p. 74 (not seen here). A search here of the text of The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism (Navajivan, 1959; the 1997 reprint on archive.org) found neither ‘greatness of a nation’, ‘moral progress’ nor ‘are treated’; nor did a search of the OCR of Young India 1919–1922 (1924), the Collected Works vol. XLV and Freedom’s Battle (1922): none has the sentence. The thought is older: David Friedrich Strauss, in Der alte und der neue Glaube (1872), translated by Mathilde Blind as The Old Faith and the New (1873): ‘The manner in which a nation in the aggregate treats animals, is one chief measure of its real civilization.’ Similar remarks, credited to others, appear in the twentieth century; Wikiquote cites the actress Minnie Maddern Fiske as quoted in a California newspaper in 1933. The earliest credit to Gandhi found by Wikiquote is a letter to the editor of The Gazette (Montreal), 18 March 1980, against the seal hunt. Who first put the sentence in this form is not known. The 1933 and 1980 items rest on Wikiquote’s citations and were not seen here.

1. 1873Before it · credited to David Friedrich StraussDavid Friedrich Strauss, in the English translation of The Old Faith and the New (German 1872), after arguing that cruelty to animals blunts feeling and that many murderers began as torturers of animals.The manner in which a nation in the aggregate treats animals, is one chief measure of its real civilization.David Friedrich Strauss, The Old Faith and the New: A Confession, translated by Mathilde Blind (New York: Henry Holt, 1873), p. 59. Checked in the text of a page scan, not the image. Source
2. 1 July 1933Spread · credited to Minnie Maddern FiskeA newspaper columnist recalls the actress Mrs Fiske saying that the civilisation of any country can be told by the way it treats its animals.The civilization of any country can be told by the way it treats its animals.Zoe Berkeley, ‘Zoe Berkeley’s Corner’, Salinas Index-Journal, 1 July 1933, p. 8. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
3. 18 March 1980Credited to Mahatma GandhiThe earliest credit to Gandhi that Wikiquote found, in a letter to the editor against the Canadian seal hunt.The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.Doris Potter, letter to the editor, The Gazette (Montreal), 18 March 1980, p. 8. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source

Shared under Gandhi’s name for animal welfare and vegetarianism (the earliest credit found is a 1980 letter to the editor against the Canadian seal hunt), sometimes with a reference to The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism (1959), a selection of his writings compiled by R. K. Prabhu. The sentence is not in that book, and no one has found it in his writings. The thought was in print in the nineteenth century: David Friedrich Strauss wrote in 1872 that the way a nation treats animals is a chief measure of its civilisation.

A nation’s moral worth shows in how it treats those who cannot speak for themselves; cruelty to animals is a mark against its claim to be civilised.

Quoted as Gandhi’s verdict, with the weight of his vegetarianism and non-violence behind it. Gandhi did write at length on diet, cows and non-violence to animals, but this sentence is not his; the idea had been in print, under other names, since the 1870s.

Not found in Gandhi’s words. If you need the thought with a sound source, Strauss’s sentence (The Old Faith and the New, 1872; English 1873) is documented.

• David Friedrich Strauss, 1872: In The Old Faith and the New: ‘The manner in which a nation in the aggregate treats animals, is one chief measure of its real civilization.’

Kindness, Compassion, Society, Morality

• The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons. (not found) Fyodor Dostoevsky
• The safety of the people shall be the highest law. Marcus Tullius Cicero
• Trust no one in whom the desire to punish is strong. (misattributed) Fyodor Dostoevsky
• If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. J. K. Rowling
• All economic movements, by their very nature, are motivated by crowd psychology. Bernard Baruch

• en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi (Disputed: ‘The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated’)
• archive.org/details/mkgpamphlet0300mkga (M. K. Gandhi, The Moral Basis of Vegetarianism, Navajivan, 1959, 1997 reprint; its text searched, the sentence not found)
• archive.org/details/oldfaithnewconfe00stra (D. F. Strauss, The Old Faith and the New, tr. Mathilde Blind, Holt, 1873, p. 59)
• Ralph Keyes, The Quote Verifier (2006), p. 74: cited (cf.) by Wikiquote; not seen

“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. No. It is not in Gandhi’s works, and who first wrote it is not known. Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/the-greatness-of-a-nation-and-its-moral-progress/ (checked 23 October 2026).

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