Seven Social Sins
October 2, 2026
In 1925, Mahatma Gandhi published a short note in Young India titled “Seven Social Sins.”
He listed seven things he believed society needed to guard against:
- Politics without principles.
- Wealth without work.
- Pleasure without conscience.
- Knowledge without character.
- Commerce without morality.
- Science without humanity.
- Worship without sacrifice.
Interestingly, Gandhi did not originate the list. It had earlier been articulated by the Anglican priest Frederick Lewis Donaldson, but Gandhiji gave it wider currency by publishing it and emphasizing its moral significance.
More than a hundred years later, the list feels just as relevant to the world we live in today.
