Disobedience Quotes

• An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Motivational, Respect, Kings

  "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 16 Apr. 1963

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• Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Freedom, Libertarian Party, Historical

  Henry David Thoreau (2006). “Thoreau and the Art of Life: Precepts and Principles”, p.23, Heron Dance Press

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• Today's difficulties are often a result of yesterday's disobedience.

  Priscilla Shirer

  Yesterday, Today, Results

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• Obedience is an act of faith; disobedience is the result of unbelief.

  Edwin Louis Cole

  Obedience, Results, Unbelief

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• The cost of obedience is small compared with the cost of disobedience.

  Saint Augustine

  Cost, Obedience

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• Human history begins with man's act of disobedience which is at the same time the beginning of his freedom and the development of his reason.

  Erich Fromm

  Freedom, Men, Liberty

  "Psychoanalysis and Religion".

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• If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Motivational, Religious, Freedom

  Civil Disobedience (1849) See Savio 1

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  You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.

  Malcolm X

  Inspirational, Peace, Patriotic

  Malcolm X (1990). “Malcolm X on Afro-American History”, Pathfinder Press

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• Never do anything against conscience even if the state demands it.

  Albert Einstein

  Love, Life, God

  Albert Einstein (2010). “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein”, p.423, Princeton University Press

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  There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.

  Elie Wiesel

  Freedom, Philosophy, Military

  Elie Wiesel (2011). “From the Kingdom of Memory: Reminiscences”, p.182, Schocken

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• When you know how to use it, disobedience can be a virtue.

  Paulo Coelho

  Spiritual, Wisdom, Use

  FaceBook post by Paulo Coelho from Jul 16, 2014

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• Satan is ever seeking to inject that poison into our hearts to distrust God's goodness - especially in connection with his commandments. That is what really lies behind all evil, lusting and disobedience. A discontent with our position and portion, a craving from something which God has wisely held from us. Reject any suggestion that God is unduly severe with you. Resist with the utmost abhorrence anything that causes you to doubt God's love and his loving-kindness toward you. Allow nothing to make you question the Father's love for his child.

  Arthur W. Pink

  Faith, Children, Kindness

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• Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state becomes lawless or corrupt.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Freedom, Libertarian Party, Democracy

  Mahatma Gandhi (2012). “The Essential Gandhi: An Anthology of His Writings on His Life, Work, and Ideas”, p.144, Vintage

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• One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Religious, Responsibility

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.60, Beacon Press

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• The time has come, or is about to come, when only large-scale civil disobedience, which should be nonviolent, can save the populations from the universal death which their governments are preparing for them.

  Bertrand Russell

  Government, Population, Should

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Fact and Fiction”, p.283, Routledge

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• Disobedience, in the eyes of any one who has read history, is man's original virtue. It is through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and through rebellion.

  Oscar Wilde

  Eye, Men, History

  "The Soul of Man Under Socialism". Essay by Oscar Wilde, 1891.

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• If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.

  Desmond Tutu

  Bullying, Justice, Sides

  "The secrets of a peacemaker". Interview with Gary Younge, www.theguardian.com. May 22, 2009.

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• If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Men, Plant, Dies

  Henry David Thoreau (2012). “The Portable Thoreau”, p.83, Penguin

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• Government implies the power of making laws. It is essential to the idea of a law, that it be attended with a sanction; or, in other words, a penalty or punishment for disobedience.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Government, Law, Punishment

  The Federalist no. 15 (1788)

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• Each man must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide against your conviction is to be an unqualified and excusable traitor, both to yourself and to your
  country, let men label you as they may.

  Mark Twain

  Country, Integrity, 4th Of July

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• Whenever there is authority, there is a natural inclination to disobedience.

  Thomas Chandler Haliburton

  Power, Natural, Authority

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• Colorful demonstrations and weekend marches are vital but alone are not powerful enough to stop wars. Wars will be stopped only when soldiers refuse to fight, when workers refuse to load weapons onto ships and aircraft, when people boycott the economic outposts of Empire that are strung across the globe.

  Arundhati Roy

  Powerful, War, Fighting

  Arundhati Roy (2004). “Public Power in the Age of Empire”, p.39, Seven Stories Press

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• I favor massive civil disobedience, among other things. It is not the only thing that is used to protest any grievance in society. But it is one of the most effective under certain conditions.

  William Kunstler

  Favors, Certain, Used

  Source: openvault.wgbh.org

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• What I've called "the Mafia doctrine" in many publications: when the Godfather issues an edict, others must obey, or else. It's too dangerous to allow disobedience. A leading principle of world affairs - though, of course, officials and commentators put it more politely.

  Noam Chomsky

  Issues, Mafia, Principles

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• We who in engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Direct Action, Alive, Surface

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.62, Beacon Press

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