Tim DeChristopher Quotes

• If we want to change that status quo, we might have to work outside of those rules because the legal pathways available to us have been structured precisely to make sure we don’t make any substantial change.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Work Out, Pathways, Want

  47 Copy quote

• This is not going away. At this point of unimaginable threats on the horizon, this is what hope looks like. In these times of a morally bankrupt government that has sold out its principles, this is what patriotism looks like. With countless lives on the line, this is what love looks like, and it will only grow.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Government, Going Away, Principles

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• If we're constantly suppressing our strong, heavy emotions - like fear and anger and outrage and sadness - it weakens us. But when we're not afraid to confront the hard emotions - when we don't turn away from the pain and the suffering of the world - it builds the confidence that we can do whatever we need to do.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Strong, Pain, Sadness

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  18 Copy quote

• Civil disobedience is an act of love.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Acts Of Love, Civil Disobedience, Disobedience

  "Civil disobedience is an act of love | An interview with Tim DeChristopher". Interview with Leslee Goodman, moonmagazine.org. December 1, 2014.

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• What one person can do is to plant the seeds of love and outrage in the hearts of a movement. And if those hearts are fertile ground, those seeds of love and outrage will grow into a revolution.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Heart, Movement, Revolution

  "US eco-activist Tim DeChristopher speaks out from prison". www.theguardian.com. August 30, 2011.

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• Our security doesn't come from turning away from the hard stuff; it comes from the knowledge that we can handle it.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Stuff, Handle, Hard

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• Until our leaders take seriously their responsibility to pass on a healthy and just world to the next generation, I will continue this fight.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Responsibility, Fighting, Leader

  "Four Eco-Documentaries That Will Fuel Your Fire" by Stefanie Penn Spear, www.huffingtonpost.com. April 2, 2012.

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• Respond to stressful times by turning towards each other, rather than away from each other.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Stressful, Away From Each Other, Stressful Times

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  11 Copy quote

• The reality is not that I lack respect for the law; it's that I have greater respect for justice.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Reality, Law, Justice

  Tim DeChristopher’s statement to the court, grist.org. July 28, 2011.

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• Dealing with our negative emotions is a crucial preparatory step to taking effective action. You have to grapple with the hard stuff, with the hard realities of the world. This builds your confidence that you can handle those intense situations when they arise.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Reality, Negative, World

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  10 Copy quote

• We need actions that are really coming from people's souls.

  Tim DeChristopher

  People, Soul, Needs

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• It's really hard to change the world when your first priority is making sure that the little world around yourself doesn't change.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Priorities, World, Littles

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  8 Copy quote

• We need to reject not only outdated fossil-fuel technology, but also an outdated economic system and an outdated corporatist political system. The progressive view is that we are smart enough and ethical enough to not have to be subservient to corporations. We can create our own resilient, localized communities.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Smart, Technology, Views

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  4 Copy quote

• Being forcefully rattled out of our consumer mentality - our addiction to comfort and convenience can create an opportunity for us [people] to reconnect with what we really value and with the qualities of life that really can sustain us - which include reconnecting with our roles as citizens, community members, and human beings.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Opportunity, People, Addiction

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  7 Copy quote

• My values are primarily motivated by love for other people. I value the non-human world in large part because it's so vital to human beings. Even my appreciation for wilderness grows out of an understanding of how important wilderness can be for people.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Appreciation, People, Understanding

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• Alienation is perhaps the most effective tool of control in America, and every reminder of our real connectedness weakens that tool.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Real, America, Tools

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• Religious communities have historically been designed to counteract the forces of alienation. That's why so many successful social movements have relied upon the strength of spiritual communities and a large base of their organizing has been through them.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Spiritual, Religious, Successful

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  7 Copy quote

• Spirituality has to play an important role, particularly in resistance movements. The institutions we are fighting against - corporations and governments - use alienation as one of their primary weapons. A big part of their messaging is intended to make people feel separated from each other, which disempowers them, which makes them ever easier to exploit. This is really a spiritual weapon they are using. It isolates people and breaks their spirit.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Spiritual, Fighting, Government

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  4 Copy quote

• We think we have no power when in fact we have more than enough power.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Thinking, Facts, Enough

  "More Powerful Than We Know". Interview with Brooke Jarvis, www.yesmagazine.org. February 25, 2011.

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• It wasn't until I started reading the history of religion that I understood that the definition of Christianity has shifted in many different directions over time, and the mainstream view today certainly doesn't have any exclusive ownership of what being a Christian means. Realizing that freed me to use the terminology without needing to be tied down to it.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Christian, Reading, Mean

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  7 Copy quote

• I don't read the Bible as the literal word of God; I don't view Jesus as a God. I've rejected both those statements. I view Jesus as a model for how we should live, and by that definition I do consider myself a Christian.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Christian, Jesus, Views

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  4 Copy quote

• I don't think a worship of nature is necessary to mount a really strong defense of the environment.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Strong, Thinking, Defense

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• Part of the reason I embrace nonviolence is that it's the most effective thing we can do. It's a more advanced tactic than violence. If people who engage in violence want to escalate their tactics, they would escalate to nonviolence.

  Tim DeChristopher

  People, Tactics, Want

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• Going through intense change with an ignorant and apathetic citizenry, driven by a corporate agenda, is a really, really scary proposition. But going into it with an educated and empowered citizenry that feels it can determine the course of its society and can hold its corporations and governments accountable has a lot of power and potential to it. To me, that's what makes activism so important.

  Tim DeChristopher

  Government, Scary, Ignorant

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  4 Copy quote

• My spiritual path has largely been Christianity - a label that I embraced and then rejected and have partially embraced again, as my understanding of Christianity has changed over time. When I accepted the mainstream, dogmatic definition of Christianity there came a point when I had to say, "Well, if that's what a Christian is, I'm not one."

  Tim DeChristopher

  Christian, Spiritual, Understanding

  Source: www.truth-out.org

  4 Copy quote

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