“Nonviolence is a powerful as well as a just weapon. If you confront a man who has long been cruelly misusing you, and say, "Punish me, if you will; I do not deserve it, but I will accept it, so that the world will know I am right and you are wrong," then you wield a powerful and a just weapon. This man, your oppressor, is automatically morally defeated, and if he has any conscience, he is ashamed.” IfsKnowsMenWorldWellsLongPowerfulAcceptingWeaponsConscienceDeserveAshamedNonviolenceDefeatedOppressors Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The cry for peace will be a cry in the wilderness, so long as the spirit of nonviolence does not dominate millions of men and women.” MenLongDoeSpiritMillionsCryMen And WomenWildernessNonviolence Book:The Essential Writings Source: The Essential Writings
“I myself would go for nonviolence if it was consistent, if everybody was going to be nonviolent all the time. I'd say, okay, let's get with it, we'll all be nonviolent. But I don't go along with any kind of nonviolence unless everybody's going to be nonviolent. If they make the Ku Klux Klan nonviolent, I'll be nonviolent. If they make the White Citizens Council nonviolent, I'll be nonviolent. But as long as you've got somebody else not being nonviolent, I don't want anybody coming to me talking any nonviolent talk.” IfsWantKindLongWhiteTalkingViolenceCitizensOkayConsistentNonviolenceCouncilKu Klux Klan Author:Malcolm X