Non Violent Quotes

• I contend that non-violent acts exert pressure far more effective than violent acts, for the pressure comes from goodwill and gentleness.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Peace, War, Violent Acts

  Mahatma Gandhi (1967). “Collected Works”

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• When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit that our lives are all that really belong to us, so it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of men we are. It is my deepest belief that only by giving life do we find life, that the truest act courage, the strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally non-violent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer for others, God help us to be men.

  Cesar Chavez

  Struggle, Sacrifice, Men

  Cesar Chavez, Richard Jay Jensen, John C. Hammerback (2002). “The Words of César Chávez”, p.167, Texas A&M University Press

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• There's no reason to be non-violent. There's no challenge unless you are living for people.

  Cesar Chavez

  People, Challenges, Reason

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• The non-violent technique does not depend for its success on the goodwill of the oppressor, but rather on the unfailing assistance of God.

  Cesar Chavez

  Peace, Humanity, Doe

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• It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Wise, Fake People, Peace

  Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Merton (2007). “Gandhi on Non-Violence”, p.51, New Directions Publishing

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• Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Faith, Peace, Men

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• We may never be strong enough to be entirely non-violent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep non-violence as our goal and make steady progress towards it.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Inspirational, Being Strong, Peace

  "Gandhi on Non-Violence".

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• The first principle of non-violent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating.

  Cesar Chavez

  Peace, Humanity, Principles

  Cesar Chavez (2008). “An Organizer's Tale: Speeches”, p.352, Penguin

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• If love or non-violence be not the law of our being, the whole of my argument falls to pieces.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Fall, Law, Pieces

  Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Merton (1965). “Gandhi on Non-violence”, p.11, New Directions Publishing

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• Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Peace, Kings

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.115, Beacon Press

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• At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Thought Provoking, Principles

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.100, Beacon Press

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• The ideally non-violent state will be an ordered anarchy.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Anarchy, Violence, Violent

  Mahatma Gandhi (2007). “Gandhi on Non-Violence”, p.69, New Directions Publishing

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• Non-violent resistance implies the very opposite of weakness. Defiance combined with non-retaliatory acceptance of repression from one's opponents is active, not passive. It requires strength, and there is nothing automatic or intuitive about the resoluteness required for using non-violent methods in political struggle and the quest for Truth.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Struggle, Acceptance, Opposites

  "Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr: The Power of Nonviolent Action". Book by Mary King, p. 231, 1999.

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• Who wouldn't want to vote for a guy who was a peaceful, radical, non-violent revolutionary; who hung around with lepers, hookers, and crooks; who never spoke English; was not an American citizen; anti-capitalism; totally anti-death penalty; anti-public prayer (Matthew 6:5); but never once anti-gay; didn't mention abortion; and was a long-haired, brown-skinned, homeless, middle-eastern, Jew?

  John Fugelsang

  Prayer, Gay, Long

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• Anything that is non-violent is OK with me.

  Jasmine Guy

  Atheism, Violent

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• Evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force may sometimes be necessary is not a call to cynicism - it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

  Barack Obama

  Army, Men, Evil

  Nobel Prize for Peace Acceptance Speech and Lecture, delivered 10 December 2009, Oslo City Hall, Oslo, Norway

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• I don’t believe in eye-for-an-eye. The most incredible, sustainable, beautiful movements have been non-violent movements of civil disobedience.

  Ellen Page

  Beautiful, Believe, Eye

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• A non-violent revolution is not a program of seizure of power. It is a program of transformation of relationships, ending in a peaceful transfer of power.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Justice, Diversity, Peaceful

  Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Merton (2007). “Gandhi on Non-Violence”, p.40, New Directions Publishing

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• Non-violence and cowardice are contradictory terms. Non-violence is the greatest virtue, cowardice the greatest vice. Non-violence springs from love, cowardice from hate. Non-violence always suffers, cowardice would always inflict suffering. Perfect non-violence is the highest bravery. Non-violent conduct is never demoralising; cowardice always is.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Courage, Hate, Spring

  Mahatma Gandhi, Anand T. Hingorani, Ganga Anand Hingorani (1985). “The Encyclopaedia of Gandhian Thoughts”

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• I make a distinction between Buddhism with a Capital 'B' and buddhism with a small 'b'. Sri Lanka has the former, in which the state uses Buddhism as an instrument of power, so there are even Buddhists monks who say the Tamils should be eliminated. Thai Buddhists are not perfect either. Some Thai Buddhist monks have compromised with the kind and possess cars and other luxuries. In many Buddhist countries, the emphasis is on being goody-goody, which is not good enough. I am for buddhism with a small 'b' which is non-violent, practical and aims to eliminate the cause of suffering.

  Sulak Sivaraksa

  Country, Buddhist, Humility

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• Democracy is disruptive. Around the world, peaceful protesters are being demonised for this, but there is no right in a democratic civil society to be free of disruption. Protesters ideally should read Gandhi and King and dedicate themselves to disciplined, long-term, non-violent disruption of business as usual - especially disruption of traffic.

  Naomi Wolf

  Kings, Long, Peaceful

  "How to Occupy the moral and political high ground" by Naomi Wolf, www.theguardian.com. November 5, 2011.

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• But there is another way. And that is to organize mass non-violent resistance based on the principle of love. It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the future. As we look out across the years and across the generations, let us develop and move right here. We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Life, Moving, Eye

  "Loving Your Enemies". Sermon by Martin Luther King, Jr. at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, November 17, 1957.

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• The non-violent resistor not only avoids external, physical violence, but he avoids internal violence of spirit. He not only refuses to shoot his opponent, but he refuses to hate him. And he stands with understanding, goodwill at all times.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Hate, Understanding, Opponents

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• And the distinction between violent and non-violent action is that the former is exclusively bent upon the destruction of the old, and the latter is chiefly concerned with the establishment of something new.

  Hannah Arendt

  Action, Violent, Something New

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• And in the racial climate of this country today, it is anybody's guess which of the 'extremes' in approach to the black man's problems might personally meet a fatal catastrophe first - 'non-violent' Dr. King, or so-called 'violent' me.

  Malcolm X

  Country, Kings, Men

  Malcolm X (2015). “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, p.384, Ballantine Books

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