Peaceful Protest Quotes

• We can't forget what happened on May 4th, 1970, when four students gave up their lives because they had the American constitutional right of peaceful protest. They gave up their lives. And to sing that song in that spot on that anniversary was very emotional for us.

  Graham Nash

  Anniversary, Song, Emotional

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• I and some colleagues came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle.

  Nelson Mandela

  Country, Struggle, Government

  Nelson Mandela (1990). “One nation, one country”

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• Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

  John F. Kennedy

  Inspirational, Peace, Freedom

  Address on first anniversary of Alliance for Progress, 13 Mar. 1962

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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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• We must pursue peaceful end through peaceful means.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  War, Mean, Peaceful

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “A Time to Break Silence: The Essential Works of Martin Luther King, Jr., for Students”, p.67, Beacon Press

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• I'm praying for healing for our nation. For retaliation that yields constructive results. Peaceful protests. We need each other.

  Tituss Burgess

  Healing, Yield, Peaceful

  Twitter post from Apr 30, 2015

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• Peaceful, lawful protest - if it is effective - IS innately disruptive of “business as usual.” That is WHY it is effective.

  Naomi Wolf

  Peaceful, Usual, Protest

  "The First Amendment and the Obligation to Peacefully Disrupt in a Free Society" by Naomi Wolf, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 20, 2011.

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  A riot is the language of the unheard.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Kings, Race Riots

  Martin Luther King, Jr. (2016). “MLK on "The Other America" and "Black Power"”, p.6, Beacon Press

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• What makes America great is peaceful protests and exercising your constitutional rights.

  Matthew Dowd

  Exercise, Rights, America

  Source: abcnews.go.com

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• 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.

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• I worry that a Trump presidency doesn't show the true face of America to the world, but I think that peaceful protest all around this country, it showed to the world who we really are.

  Tim Kaine

  Country, Thinking, America

  Source: www.cosmopolitan.com

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• There is nothing more American than peaceful protest.

  Russ Feingold

  Peaceful, Protest

  "CBS Gives Platform to Russ Feingold to Bash Herman Cain As 'Un-American' For Criticizing 'Occupy Wall Street'". Interview with Matthew Balan, www.newsbusters.org. October 10, 2011.

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• The methods of peaceful protests are not capable of being effective, because in reality most people pay little attention to things that are not abrasive.

  Assata Shakur

  Reality, People, Peaceful

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• I refuse to accept the view . . . that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, Kings, Unconditional Love

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.116, Beacon Press

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• Look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Dream, Kings, Kids

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• We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the postive affirmation of peace.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, War, Negative

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• An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so. Now the law of nonviolence says that violence should be resisted not by counter-violence but by nonviolence. This I do by breaking the law and by peacefully submitting to arrest and imprisonment.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Spiritual, Law, Unjust

  Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas Merton (1965). “Gandhi on Non-violence”, p.71, New Directions Publishing

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• Woodstock was both a peaceful protest and a global celebration.

  Richie Havens

  Peaceful, Celebration, Woodstock

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• I was involved in some peaceful protests.

  Todd Akin

  Peaceful, Protest, Involved

  "Akin acknowledges arrest at anti-abortion protest from long ago". www.foxnews.com. September 28, 2012.

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• The people on the streets of Egypt and Tunisia and Libya and Syria and Iran have done more to defeat the ideology of Al Qaeda than anything that the United States has done. They have shown that there is a third way, that with peaceful protest you can have an end to dictatorship and a role for human dignity, a role for your religious faith in society.

  Reza Aslan

  Religious, Egypt, Iran

  Source: www.pbs.org

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  I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Dream, Kings, Children

  Speech at Civil Rights March,Washington, D.C., 28 Aug. 1963

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• The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

  William Shakespeare

  Women, Memorable, Important

  'Hamlet' (1601) act 3, sc. 2, l. [242]

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• Technology is the penultimate chameleon, taking on the characteristics of its handler. In some hands technology is a tool of treachery, while in others it morphs into a peaceful protest. In still others, it represents the bleeding edge of freedom.

  Brock N. Meeks

  Technology, Hands, Peaceful

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