Mahatma Gandhi was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India.  Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.  He was also a trained barrister having studied at the Inner Temple in London.

Gandhi dedicated his life to the wider purpose of discovering truth.  Mahatma Gandhi said that seven social sins will destroy us.1

Dr. Stephen R. Covey, a leading management consultant and author, had this to say about the second social sin:

The chief query of the immature, greedy, selfish, and sensuous has always been “What’s in it for me? Will this please me? Will it ease me?”  Lately, many people seem to want these pleasures without conscience or sense of responsibility, even abandoning or utterly neglecting spouses and children in the name of doing their thing.  But independence is not the most mature state of being – it’s only a middle position on the way to interdependence, the most advanced and mature state.  To learn to give and take, to live selflessly, to be sensitive, to be considerate, is our challenge.  Otherwise, there is no sense of social responsibility or accountability in our pleasurable activities.2

As a family lawyer, I have experienced the person who seeks pleasure without conscience.  This is not a healthy way to live and it does not lead to healthy relationships.  However, for some, the process of divorce expands a person’s view of the world and their place in it.  A divorce is a process, a journey that can result in a mature state of being, a position of social responsibility and accountability.

by Patrick Gaffney

by Patrick Gaffney


1 Wikipedia.  Seven Social Sins:  wealth without work; pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; commerce without morality; science without humanity; religion without sacrifice; and politics without principle.

2 Covey, Stephen R.  Principle-Centered Leadership.  Simon & Schuster, Ltd.  1992. Print.