A recorded run from 15 October 2026, with 3 sites that already answer it kept out of the search.
Usually credited to Mahatma Gandhi
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23 of 23 pages, 15 confirmed
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2 cited works, 0 pages found
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Earliest trace: Arleen Lorrance, 1974 n6
The saying 'Be the change you wish to see in the world' is not found in Gandhi's writings; his 1913 passage speaks of mirroring the world n15. The earliest dated appearance of the saying is a 1974 publication by educator Arleen Lorrance n6. Later sources confirm Lorrance as the origin n9 n13 n14. Modern websites attribute the saying to Gandhi n3 n11, but this credit is a misattribution.
Earliest known: Book chapter in Developing Priorities and a Style: Selected Readings in Education for Teachers and Parents, by Arleen Lorrance, 1974.
Gandhi wrote a related but much longer passage in 1913. Quote Investigator credits Lorrance with the saying. A Santa Fe newspaper credited it to Gandhi in March 1987.
From quoteinvestigator.com.
Started. Sites that already wrote up answers are left out: quoteinvestigator.com, wikiquote.org, wikipedia.org
Planned 5 searches and 5 other wordings
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5 results for "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
5 results for "Be the change you wish to see" earliest appearance
5 results for "change you wish to see in the world" 1970s
5 results for Arleen Lorrance "Be the change" 1974
5 results for Gandhi "If we could change ourselves" 1913
17 pages to read
Found the quote on teachdifferent.com
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Confirmed n3 on teachdifferent.com
Found the quote on facebook.com
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Confirmed n5 on facebook.com
Found the quote on brainyquote.com
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Confirmed n4 on brainyquote.com
Found the quote on genesisca.org
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Confirmed n2 on genesisca.org
Found the quote on instagram.com
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Confirmed n8 on instagram.com
Found the quote on professorbuzzkill.com
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Confirmed n6 on professorbuzzkill.com
No quote on slate.com
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Page too long to read: josephranseth.com
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Trying again on Nemotron 3 Super (josephranseth.com): a field was too long to be a quote
Found the quote on leeandlow.com
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Confirmed n7 on leeandlow.com
Found the quote on leaningintolight.substack.com
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Confirmed n9 on leaningintolight.substack.com
Page too long to read: asafophir.com
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Trying again on Nemotron 3 Super (asafophir.com): a field was too long to be a quote
Found the quote on loneoakhoney.com
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Confirmed n12 on loneoakhoney.com
No quote on josephranseth.com
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Found the quote on news.ycombinator.com
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Confirmed n13 on news.ycombinator.com
Found the quote on asafophir.com
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Confirmed n11 on asafophir.com
Found the quote on integralleadershipreview.com
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Confirmed n15 on integralleadershipreview.com
Found the quote on goodreads.com
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Confirmed n16 on goodreads.com
Page too long to read: instagram.com
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Trying again on Nemotron 3 Super (instagram.com): a field was too long to be a quote
Found the quote on quoteiac.com
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Confirmed n17 on quoteiac.com
Found the quote on instagram.com
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Confirmed n14 on instagram.com
Following Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume 13 (cited by n15); Indian Opinion (cited by n17)
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5 results for Mahatma Gandhi Collected Works Volume 13 We need not wait to see what others do
5 results for Indian Opinion Gandhi We need not wait to see what others do
6 new pages to read
No quote on en.wikisource.org (looking for Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume 13)
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No quote on en.wikisource.org (looking for Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume 13)
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No quote on books.google.com (looking for Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume 13)
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No quote on archive.org (looking for Indian Opinion)
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No quote on archive.org (looking for Indian Opinion)
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No quote on web.archive.org (looking for Indian Opinion)
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Told the Judge: The pages this run read for Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Volume 13 on en.wikisource.org don't have the saying; they may be another edition or only part of the work.
Verdict: misattributed, high confidence
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Trying again on Nemotron 3 Ultra: the verdict dates n6 by the page's own date 2017-01-09, though n6 names a source dated 1974
Verdict: misattributed, high confidence
Nemotron 3 Ultra$0.0224
Done in 61s
Arleen Lorrance's 1974 work contains the earliest variant: 'be the change you wish to see happen'.
Lorrance's 1970 quote uses 'Be the change you want to see happen, instead of trying to change everyone else.'
Quote Investigator article cites Lorrance's 1974 publication as the origin.
Explicitly states the phrase was written by Lorrance in 1974, not Gandhi.
Modern page attributes the saying 'Be the change that you wish to see in the world' to Gandhi.
“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.”
“Be the change you want to see happen instead of trying to change everyone else.”
Earliest the judge found
“One way to start a preventative program is to be the change you wish to see happen. That is the essence and substance of the simple and successful endeavor of The Love Project.”
“Be the change change you wish to see in the world.”
“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.”
Where the wrong name shows up
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world,”
“What did Gandhi mean when he said to “Be the change you wish to see in the world”?”
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.”
“While commonly attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, the exact phrase "You must be the change you wish to see in the world" wasn't written by him, but by educator Arleen Lorrance in 1974”
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
“In 1970, Brooklyn school teacher Arleen Lorrance said, “Be the change you want to see happen, instead of trying to change everyone else.”
“Be the change you want to see in the world”