Nonviolent Resistance Quotes

• Nonviolent resistance makes it possible for the Negro to remain in the South and struggle for his rights. The Negro's problem will not be solved by running away.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Running, Struggle, Rights

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

  60 Copy quote

  Show source

• [I]t must be emphasized that nonviolent resistance is not a method for cowards; it does resist. If one uses this method because he is afraid or merely because he lacks the instruments of violence, he is not truly nonviolent. This is why Gandhi often said that if cowardice is the only alternative to violence, it is better to fight.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Fighting, Coward, Doe

  56 Copy quote

• 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.

  52 Copy quote

  Show source

• Violent resistance and nonviolent resistance share one very important thing in common: They are both a form of theater seeking an audience to their cause.

  Julia Bacha

  Important, Resistance, Causes

  56 Copy quote

• 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

  126 Copy quote

  Show source
• 

  If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

  Desmond Tutu

  Bullying, Peace, Elephants

  FaceBook post by Desmond Tutu from Jan 22, 2014

  274 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  136 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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.

  72 Copy quote

  Show source

• If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Peace, Children, Real

  Mahatma Gandhi (1965). “Glorious Thoughts of Gandhi: Being a Treasury of about Ten Thousand Valuable and Inspiring Thougths of Mahatma Gandhi, Classified Under Four Hundred Subjects”

  27 Copy quote

  Show source

• It is not a man's duty, as a matter of course, to devote himself to the eradication of any, even the most enormous wrong; he may still properly have other concerns to engage him; but it is his duty, at least, to wash his hands of it, and, if he gives it no thought longer, not to give it practically his support. If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man's shoulders.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Men, Hands, Giving

  Henry David Thoreau (2002). “The Essays of Henry D. Thoreau: Selected and Edited by Lewis Hyde”, p.207, North Point Press

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• If I devote myself to other pursuits and contemplations, I must first see, at least, that I do not pursue them sitting upon another man's shoulders. I must get off him first, that he may pursue his contemplations too.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Life, Wisdom, Men

  Henry David Thoreau (1942). “Civil Disobedience”, p.7, Hayes Barton Press

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Motivational, Respect, Law

  Civil Disobedience (1849)

  9 Copy quote

  Show source

• . . . we should be men first, and subjects afterward.

  Henry David Thoreau

  Respect, Men, Firsts

  Civil Disobedience (1849)

  23 Copy quote

  Show source

• The Negro's problem will not be solved by running away.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Running, Problem

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1968). “I Have a Dream: The Quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr”

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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

  55 Copy quote

• Disobedience, the rarest and most courageous of the virtues, is seldom distinguished from neglect, the laziest and commonest of the vices.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Vices, Revolution, Courageous

  George Bernard Shaw (2015). “George Bernard Shaw: Collected Articles, Lectures, Essays and Letters: Thoughts and Studies from the Renowned Dramaturge and Author of Mrs. Warren’s Profession, Pygmalion, Arms and The Man, Saint Joan, Caesar and Cleopatra, Androcles And The Lion”, p.311, e-artnow

  10 Copy quote

  Show source

• 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.

  Thomas Tusser

  Peace, Integrity, Patriotic

  22 Copy quote

• An act of violence against any innocent person eludes moral justification, disgraces the millions of Americans and people throughout the world who have united in peaceful protest against police brutality, and dishonors our proud inheritance of nonviolent resistance.

  Benjamin Crump

  Innocent Person, People, Police

  "Robertson Treatment Syndicated Column (RTSC): A Conversation With Civil Rights Attorney BBenjamin Crump". Interview with Gil Robertson, www.eurweb.com. March 24, 2015.

  28 Copy quote

  Show source

• Jesus called for nonviolent resistance to Rome and just distribution of land and food. He was crucified because he threatened Roman stability -- not as a sacrifice to God for humanity's sins.

  John Dominic Crossan

  Jesus, Sacrifice, Rome

  "John Dominic Crossan's 'blasphemous' portrait of Jesus". Interview with John Blake, www.cnn.com. February 27, 2011.

  50 Copy quote

  Show source

• I firmly believe that the Gandhian philosophy of nonviolent resistance is the only logical and moral approach to the solution of the race problem in the United States.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Philosophy, Believe, Equality

  4 Copy quote

• My study of Gandhi convinced me that true pacifism is not nonresistance to evil, but nonviolent resistance to evil. Between the two positions, there is a world of difference. Gandhi resisted evil with as much vigor and power as the violent resister, but True pacifism is not unrealistic submission to evil power. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love. . . .

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Courage, Two

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.99, Beacon Press

  35 Copy quote

  Show source

• History has no record of a nation having adopted nonviolent resistance.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Records, Resistance, Adopted

  Mahatma Gandhi (1994). “The Gandhi Reader: A Sourcebook of His Life and Writings”, p.334, Grove Press

  17 Copy quote

  Show source

• Much as being active in the antislavery movement of the last century involved more than not engaging in slavery oneself, so joining in an antiviolence movement has to go beyond opting for nonviolence in one's personal life. It calls for engaging in imaginative and forceful practices of nonviolent resistance to violence, including taking a stand toward entertainment violence.

  Sissela Bok

  Joining In, Practice, Movement

  4 Copy quote

• Through nonviolent resistance the Negro will be able to rise to the noble height of opposing the unjust system while loving the perpetrators of the system.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Noble, Unjust

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The intellectual and moral satisfaction that I failed to gain from the utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill, the revolutionary methods of Marx and Lenin, the social contract theory of Hobbes, the "back to nature" optimism of Rousseau, and the superman philosophy of Nietzsche, I found in the nonviolent resistance philosophy of Gandhi. I came to feel that this was the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Philosophy, Struggle, People

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

  17 Copy quote

  Show source