Disobedience Quotes - Page 9

• Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  March On Washington, Soul, Height

  I Have a Dream, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

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• Complete civil disobedience is a state of peaceful rebellion, a refusal to obey every single state-made law.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Law, Peaceful, Rebellion

  Mahatma Gandhi, Dennis Dalton (1996). “Gandhi: Selected Political Writings”, p.74, Hackett Publishing

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• Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit/Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste/Brought death into the world, and all our woe,/With loss of Eden, till one greater Man/Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,/Sing heavenly muse

  John Milton

  Loss, Men, Eden

  Paradise Lost bk. 1, l. 1 (1667)

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• In placing civil disobedience before constructive work I was wrong and I did not profit by the Himalayan blunder that I had committed.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Profit, Blunders, Committed

  Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Merton (2007). “Gandhi on Non-Violence”, p.90, New Directions Publishing

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• Before civil disobedience can be practised on a vast scale, people must learn the art of civil or voluntary obedience.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Art, People, Obedience

  Mahatma Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1986). “The Moral and Political Writings of Mahatma Gandhi: Non-Violent Resistance and Social Transformation”, Clarendon Press

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• Indeed, a civil resister offers resistance only when peace becomes impossible.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Resistance, Impossible, Offers

  Mahatma Gandhi (1984). “The Quintessence of Gandhi in His Own Words”

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• I know of only one country, at least to my knowledge, which has a dissident culture where leading figures, I mean, the most famous writers, journalists, academics and so on, are not only critical of state policy, but are constantly carrying out civil disobedience and risking imprisonment and often being imprisoned, standing up for people's rights. That's Turkey.

  Noam Chomsky

  Country, Mean, Rights

  Source: theanarchistlibrary.org

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• To engage in civil disobedience is to feel the abundance of courage, the gratitude for a democracy that still invites us to speak from our hearts, to act from our conscience and have faith in the consequences of moral action. Abundance is a form of consciousness.

  Terry Tempest Williams

  Gratitude, Heart, Democracy

  "Exclusive: Terry Tempest Williams On Sacred Rage, Abundance, and the Upcoming White House Tar Sands Pipeline Action". Interview with Jerry Cope, www.huffingtonpost.com. August 17, 2011.

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• Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resigns his conscience to the legislator? Why has every man a conscience then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Men, Thinking, Degrees

  Henry David Thoreau (1942). “Civil Disobedience”, p.3, Hayes Barton Press

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• A general in time of war is constantly bombarded by reports both true and false; by errors arising from fear or negligence or hastiness; by disobedience born of right or wrong interpretations, of ill will; of a proper or mistaken sense of duty; of laziness; or of exhaustion; and by accident that nobody could have foreseen. In short, he is exposed to countless impressions, most of them disturbing, few of them encouraging. ... If a man were to yield to these pressures, he would never complete an operation.

  Carl von Clausewitz

  War, Men, Errors

  Carl von Clausewitz (1989). “On War”, p.193, Princeton University Press

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• In the States we've had by far the largest demonstrations in the last few years. The largest civil disobedience actions about anything in US history in the last 30 years have all been centred around the climate.

  Bill McKibben

  Years, Lasts, Climate

  Source: www.opendemocracy.net

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• I don't think Edward Snowden deserves a death penalty or life in prison. I think that's inappropriate. I think that's why he fled, [because] that is what he faced.

  Rand Paul

  Leadership, Party, Technology

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• No one will give you change. You have to work for it. You have to earn it not by screaming, but by working hard, by believing in yourself, by proving yourself. There are windows, but if you are radical, no one will talk to you. And that window will shut.

  Haifaa al-Mansour

  Leadership, Wisdom, Believe

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• I view the United States, today, much like East Berlin. And I'm off the grid. I've tried for 20 years to warn the country about the Democrats and Republicans, and nobody's listening.

  Jesse Ventura

  Country, Party, Technology

  "Jesse Ventura hiding from drones" by Tal Kopan, www.politico.com. February 5, 2014.

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• You know, my father was a great encouragement for me because he spoke out for women's rights, he spoke out for girl's education. And at that time I said that why should I wait for someone else, why should I be looking to the government, to the army that they would help us? Why don't I raise my voice, why don't we speak up for our rights?

  Malala Yousafzai

  Leadership, Girl, Education

  "Watch This Incredible Young Woman Render Jon Stewart Speechless". "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart, www.upworthy.com. October 10, 2013.

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• I believe the gun has no power because a gun can only kill, but a pen can give life.

  Malala Yousafzai

  Leadership, Wisdom, Believe

  "16-Year-Old Activist Malala Yousafzai Steals The Show At NYC Awards Show" by Jocelyn Noveck, www.businessinsider.com. November 12, 2013.

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• There's a reason survivors choose not to go to the police, and that's because they're treated as the criminals. The rapists are innocent until proven guilty, but survivors are guilty until proven innocent - at least in the eyes of the police.

  Emma Sulkowicz

  Eye, Class, Justice

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• It takes courage to speak up against complacency and injustice while others remain silent. But that's what leadership is.

  Rosabeth Moss Kanter

  Leadership, Justice, Community

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• No one understands that the First Amendment is only important if you are going to offend somebody. If you're not going to offend somebody, you don't need protection of the First Amendment.

  Larry Flynt

  Reality, History, Important

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• Individual civil disobedience was everybody's inherent right, like the right of self-defence in normal life.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Self, Normal, Individual

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• I'm so sick and tired of all this violence, this gun violence. And how could I speak on it - you know - being one who has advocated violence and gun violence? The only way I could do it was through a song that spoke from the heart.

  Snoop Dogg

  Leadership, Wisdom, Song

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• Congress needs to send a strong signal that direct communication with the leader of the free world is a privilege, particularly for a regime that has been as hostile as Iran has been towards America for more than three decades. President Rouhani needs to take these two simple steps to demonstrate good faith before any further discussions.

  Ted Cruz

  Leadership, Strong, Spring

  "Cruz praises Obama on Iran" by Burgess Everett, www.politico.com. September 28, 2013.

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• But the question is, do we care enough? Do we care enough to keep standing up for the country that we know is possible, even if it's hard, and even if it's politically uncomfortable? Do we care enough to sustain the passion and the pressure to make our communities safer and our country safer? Do we care enough to do everything we can to spare other families the pain that is felt here today?

  Barack Obama

  Leadership, Country, Pain

  "CNN Newsroom" with Rosa Flores, www.cnn.com. September 22, 2013.

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• Racial discrimination in elections in Texas is no mere historical artifact. To the contrary, Texas has been found in violation of the Voting Rights Act in every redistricting cycle from and after 1970.

  Ruth Bader Ginsburg

  Reality, Rights, Texas

  "Ruth Bader Ginsburg Pens Scathing Dissent On Texas Voter ID Law" By Braden Goyette, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 18, 2014.

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• I'm absolutely, utterly, and completely certain that God wouldn't be homophobic. I'd much rather go to hell - I really would much rather go to hell - than go to a homophobic heaven.

  Desmond Tutu

  Leadership, Wisdom, Class

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