Acquiescence Quotes

• Silence in the face of atrocity is not neutrality; silence in the face of atrocity is acquiescence.

  Samantha Power

  Silence, Political, Atrocities

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• No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence.

  Woodrow Wilson

  Peace, Patriotic, Men

  Woodrow Wilson, Mario R. DiNunzio (2006). “Woodrow Wilson: Essential Writings and Speeches of the Scholar-president”, p.54, NYU Press

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• The way of acquiescence leads to moral and spiritual suicide. The way of violence leads to bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. But, the way of nonviolence leads to redemption and the creation of the beloved community.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Suicide, Spiritual, Beloved Community

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.75, Beacon Press

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• There is a certain indolence in us, a wish not to be disturbed, which tempts us to think that when things are quiet, all is well. Subconsciously, we tend to give the preference to 'social peace,' though it be only apparent, because our lives and possessions seem then secure. Actually, human beings acquiesce too easily in evil conditions; they rebel far too little and too seldom. There is nothing noble about acquiescence in a cramped life or mere submission to superior force.

  A. J. Muste

  Thinking, Evil, Giving

  "The Essays of A. J. Muste (Pacifism and Class War)". Book edited by Nat Hentoff, 1967.

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• A shocking crime was committed on the unscrupulous initiative of few individuals, with the blessing of more, and amid the passive acquiescence of all.

  Tacitus

  Inspirational, Blessing, Reality

  Cornelius Tacitus (1964). “The histories”

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• All that the Devil asks is acquiescence.

  Suzanne Massie

  Evil, Brushing, Asks

  Robert Massie; Suzanne Massie (1975). “Journey”

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• The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.

  Fulton J. Sheen

  Honesty, Believe, Issues

  523 Copy quote

• Though opposition is a hopeless task, acquiescence would be worse.

  Thomas M. Disch

  Tasks, Would Be, Hopeless

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• Evil is near. Sometimes late at night the air grows strongly clammy and cold around me. I feel it brushing me. All that the Devil asks is acquiescence not struggle, not conflict. Acquiescence.

  Suzanne Massie

  Struggle, Night, Air

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• Suicide is a belated acquiescence in the opinion of one's wife's relatives.

  H. L. Mencken

  Suicide, Wife, Opinion

  A Little Book in C Major ch. 5 (1916)

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• There is no such thing as real happiness in life. The justest definition that was ever given of it was "a tranquil acquiescence under an agreeable delusion"--I forget where.

  Laurence Sterne

  Real, Definitions, Forget

  Laurence Sterne (1814). “The Works of Laurence Sterne: With a Life of the Author”, p.330

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• Be the best. No negativity. No weakness. No acquiescence to fear or disaster. No errors of ignorance. No evasion to reality

  Jeff Buckley

  Ignorance, Reality, Errors

  24 Copy quote

• The employers cannot carry on industry nor accumulate profits if they have not got the good will of the workers or their acquiescence in carrying on such industry.

  James Larkin

  Carrying On, Profit, Employers

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• Neither acquiescence in skepticism nor acquiescence in dogma is what education should produce.

  Bertrand Russell

  Dogma, Should, Produce

  Bertrand Russell (1993). “The Quotable Bertrand Russell”

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• The greatest barrier to women's advance in the public world of action has been their acquiescence in the idea that they don't belong out there.

  Elizabeth Janeway

  Ideas, World, Action

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• Peace does not dwell in outward things but within the soul; we may preserve it in the midst of the bitterest pain, if our will remains firm and submissive. Peace in this life springs from acquiescence to, not an exemption from, suffering.

  Francois Fenelon

  Peace, Pain, Spring

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• The two-thirds rule of the Senate, which can be changed only by constitutional amendment, will no doubt continue for a long time to come. Like monogamy, it is not completely satisfactory, but, like monogamy, it has won general if somewhat grudging acquiescence.

  Thomas A. Bailey

  Two, Long, Doubt

  "A Diplomatic History of the American People". Book by Thomas A. Bailey, 7th ed., p. 17, 1940.

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• The principle of nonviolent resistance seeks to reconcile the truths of two opposites-Acquiescence and violence -while avoiding the extremes and immoralities of both.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Opposites, Two

  "Stride Toward Freedom". Book by Martin Luther King, Jr., November 30, 1957.

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• Establish the eternal truth that acquiescence under insult is not the way to escape war.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Military, War, Way

  Thomas Jefferson (2010). “The Works of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence 1793-1798”, p.191, Cosimo, Inc.

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• One beautiful diamond is worth more than a mountain of stones, and one virtuous act of acquiescence and submission is better than an abundance of good works done for others.

  Vincent de Paul

  Beautiful, Mountain, Done

  Saint Vincent de Paul (1985). “Correspondence, Conferences, Documents: I. Correspondence. v. 1. 1607-1639”, BNA Books (Bureau of National Affairs)

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• Before none of your printed idols do I bend in acquiescence, and he who saith "thou shalt" to me is my mortal foe!

  Anton Szandor LaVey

  Idols, Foe, Printed

  "The Satanic Bible". Book by Anton Szandor LaVey, 1969.

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• There is a certain amount of purpose, acquiescence, and satisfaction in nursing one's melancholy.

  Michel de Montaigne

  Sadness, Nursing, Self

  Michel de Montaigne (1946). “The essays”

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• I'm terrified of passive acquiescence. I live in intensity.

  Virginia Woolf

  Intensity, Passive, Terrified

  Virginia Woolf (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Virginia Woolf (Illustrated)”, p.4552, Delphi Classics

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• As information technology becomes millions of times more powerful, any particular use of it becomes correspondingly cheaper. Thus, it has become commonplace to expect online services (not just news, but 21st century treats like search or social networking) to be given for free, or rather, in exchange for acquiescence to being spied on.

  Jaron Lanier

  Powerful, Technology, Networking

  Jaron Lanier (2014). “Who Owns the Future?”, p.10, Simon and Schuster

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• Opting for peace does not mean a passive acquiescence to evil or compromise of principle. It demands an active struggle against hatred, oppression and disunity, but not by using methods of violence. Building peace requires creative and courageous action

  Pope John Paul II

  Struggle, Mean, Evil

  15 Copy quote