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Nonviolence Quotes

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Nonviolence Quotes

“Military is Legal Terrorism (Ceasefire Sonnet) Any planet that confuses guns with gallantry is a planet of apes. Prioritizing military over education, we only build a world full of terrorists. Military is just legal terrorism, To fathom this you gotta be human. What do monkeys know of peace and love, When guns are their emblem of patriotism! We don't need civilian disarmament, We need absolute universal disarmament. Only a worldwide ban on firearms production, Can facilitate a paradigm of peaceful coexistence. Let's see which nation has the heart and backbone, To legislate absolute ban on firearms manufacture! Let's see who are the first civilized people, Let's see which nation is the first peacemaker! What's the point of one ceasefire, Let's pull the plug on all war. Let's disband all military, and siphon those funds to housing, education and healthcare.”

“What kind of a moron thinks that a nation grows great by developing the military capacity to destroy another nation! Yet that is the first thing you think of when you hear the term of patriotism. It's time we rise above these outdated notions and customs, and learn to find home in people, not places – in beings, not borders.”

“As always, the only way out is in. Withdrawal from the system is a powerful mode of nonviolent resistance, and one never more effective than when done using conscious reclamation and cultivation of our own energy.”

“Anyone leading a violent rebellion must be prepared to make an honest assessment regarding the possible casualties to a minority population confronting a well-armed, wealthy majority with a fanatical right wing that would delight in exterminating thousands of black men, women and children.”

“A final victory is an accumulation of many short-term encounters. To lightly dismiss a success because it does not usher in a complete order of justice is to fail to comprehend the process of full victory. It underestimates the value of confrontation and dissolves the confidence born of partial victory by which new efforts are powered.”

“Good Little Gods (The Sonnet) A good person once said, to turn the other cheek. I ain't him, I don't approve of his kind of naivety. Hurt me all you want, I may still keep quiet but, Lay a finger on my loved ones, 'n you are history. Someone once ordered, sacrifice your child for me, And a spineless patriarch rushed to obey it all. If god commands to slaughter someone I love, That stoneage nitwit will return without his balls. Someone said, strike your partner if she denies coitus, To which countless bugs still remain obedient. I ask that moron of a god to come 'n say it to me, And he won't be left man enough to even get a head. Humankind ain't no slave to no prehistoric lords. We may spare them only if they're good little gods.”

“Guns can be a strength in the hands of trained law enforcement officials and soldiers with character, but in the hands of civilians they are not just weakness, but a sickness. Without a trained host with character, a gun acts like a parasite, it not only makes the host sick both mentally and physically, but more importantly it sickens an entire society. Let me put this in perspective. In the hands of a civilian, snake venom is poison, in the hands of a scientist, it is medicine. So to put it in a nutshell - carry goodness, not guns. Civilization will never see the sun till the civilians reject their gun.”

“In recent years various dictatorships--of both internal and external origin--have collapsed or stumbled when confronted by defiant, mobilized people." Those are the opening words of From Dictatorship to Democracy, an iconic pamphlet composed by Gene Sharp, an American academic. Sharp emerged from the world of pacifism, civil rights, and antiwar activism in the 1950s to become, by the 1990s, an advocate of nonviolent revolution. A student of Gandhi, King, and Thoreau, Sharp believed that dictatorships survive not because of the unusual powers or personalities of dictators but because most people who live under their rule are apathetic or afraid. He believed that if they overcame their apathy and fear, and that if they refused to acquiesce to the dictator's demands, then the dictator would no longer be able to rule.”

“Domestic Violence – I Deserve Respect! As a male advocate for ending domestic abuse, Patrick believes domestic violence is not just a woman’s issue, it’s everyone’s issue. In his moving personal memoir, I AM ME, and in his powerful presentations, Patrick describes the painful domestic verbal abuse he endured from ex-wives and the physical abuse he suffered from his first LGBT partner. To book Patrick visit his website.”

“There is nothing sane, merciful, heroic, devout, redemptive, wise, holy, loving, peaceful, joyous, righteous, gracious, remotely spiritual, or worthy of praise where mass murder is concerned. We have been in this world long enough to know that by now and to understand that nonviolent conflict resolution informed by mutual compassion is the far better option.”

“Aşkistani: Citizen of Love (The Sonnet) Listen you all peddlers of hate, Hard as you may blow the horn of tyranny. To jeopardize all your stone-age stupidity, You'll always be confronted with an aşkistani. We won't let your children come to harm, Nor will we strike you back in vengeance. But when you vilify the sanctity of human life, Rest assured we'll restrain you without violence. Violence may be your childish habit, You may practice it all you desire. We are the revolution of conscience, That incinerates prejudice by sheer willpower. We are not here to peddle any ideology. All we ask is come let's be one family.”

“Terrorists don't walk around carrying guns and grenades any more, except for the confederate nitwits and religious blockheads that is. Today's terrorists walk amongst us, perfectly indistinguishable, with a fancy outside and a filthy inside. And here's my word to these violators of human rights. I'm a billionaire, I'm a politician, I'm a bureaucrat, I'm a diplomat - if you so much as dream of exploiting people thinking such filth, mark the words of this gentalist eternal - it'll take me two shakes of a lamb's tail to wipe you out from the fabric of time. But I won't. No matter what, I'll defend the people, and still spare your life. You know why? Because, a terrorist is defined by how they treat the innocent, a reformist is defined by how they treat the terrorist. So mend your ways my child, because if you are terror, I am your grandfather.”

“Another factor that enhances participation in nonviolent campaigns is the festival-like atmosphere that often accompanies nonviolent rallies and demonstrations -- as exemplified by the recent nonviolent campaigns in Serbia, Ukraine, Lebanon, and Egypt -- where concerts, singing and street theatre attracted large numbers of people (particularly young people) interested in having fun while fighting for a political cause. Humor and satire, which have featured prominently in nonviolent campaigns (less so in armed campaigns), have helped break down barriers of fear and promote solidarity among victims of state-sponsored oppression.”

“The more diverse the participation in the resistance -- in terms of gender, age, religion, ethnicity, ideology, profession, and socioeconomic status -- the more difficult it is for the adversary to isolate the participants and adopt a repressive strategy short of maximal and indiscriminate repression.”

“I Don't Have Time to Explain (Sonnet 2466-2467) I don't have time to explain basic science, I don't have time to explain why vaccines are crucial, why the earth is not flat. I don't have time to explain basic theology, I don't have time to explain why no religion is truer than another, and why belief as coping mechanism is okay, but belief mustn't be confused with truth. For example, if you wanna talk facts, most scientific religion is buddhism, for much of buddhist literature is basic psychology, sure, all religious meanderings occasionally align with modern science, but no theology is more aligned with modern science than buddhism - likewise, most nonviolent religion is jainism, to harm even a fly is sin in jainism - and most charitable religion is sikhism, nobody goes hungry where there is a sikh langar, that too without being converted into a sikh. There are two kinds of divinity in the world, doctrinal divinity and human divinity - doctrinal divinity is less holy, more prejudice, whereas human divinity prioritizes humanity. There are two kinds of truth in the world, empirical truth and human truth - empirical truth is all about facts, human truth is more than facts - human truth applies facts wisely among other instruments to uplift human condition.”

“Warm curiosity about what is happening is a different kind of experience than judgement. It can help us open to the bigger picture beyond this moment of what feels like failure. We may consider our person's history and our own. We might bring in our left-hemisphere emissary to see how we could understand where we are in the process. In this quieter internal place, sometimes an intuitive sense of trust will come even when we can't figure it out.”