The Call: Famous Political Activism Quotes

[Kyle]

I know there's a lot on here who want to see change made, to that end I think we need to look to the past. Feel free to add to this.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

“Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace.”

"People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other."

“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that."

"Let no man pull you so low as to hate him."

"That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing."

“The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.”

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude."

“We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”

“If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, than nothing can be more redemptive.”

"We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”

“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.”

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."

“If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.”

“The question is no whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be… The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”

 

[Kyle]

CESAR CHAVEZ

“You know, if people are not pacifists, it’s not their fault. It’s because society puts them in that spot. You’ve got to change it. You don’t just change a man – you’ve got to change his environment as you do it.”

“What is at stake is human dignity. If a man is not accorded respect he cannot respect himself and if he does not respect himself, he cannot demand it.”

“Preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.”

“If we are full of hatred, we can’t really do our work. Hatred saps all that strength and energy we need to plan.”

“There is no such thing as defeat in non-violence.”

“In some cases non-violence requires more militancy than violence.”

“When you sacrifice, you force others to sacrifice. It’s an extremely powerful weapon.”

“Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed.”

“Never, never is it possible to reach someone if you become angry or bitter only love and gentleness can do it.”

“It is my deepest belief that only by giving our lives do we find life. I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally non-violent struggle for justice.”

“We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure.”

“We have seen the future, and the future is ours.”

“When workers fall back on violence, they are lost. Oh, they might win some of their demands and might end a strike a little earlier, but they give up their imagination, their creativity, their will to work hard and to suffer for what they believe is right.”

“We are suffering. We have suffered. And we are not afraid to suffer in order to win our cause.”

“We shall strike. We shall organize boycotts. We shall demonstrate and have political campaigns. We shall pursue the revolution we have proposed. We are sons and daughters of the farm workers’ revolution, a revolution of the poor seeking bread and justice.”

“Non-violence is a powerful weapon. Most people don’t understand the power of non-violence and tend to be amazed by the whole idea. Those who have been involved in bringing about change and see the difference between violence and non-violence are firmly committed to a lifetime of non-violence, not because it is easy or because it is cowardly, but because it is an effective and very powerful way.”

“The people united will never be defeated.”

“Violence just hurts those who are already hurt. Instead of exposing the brutality of the oppressor, it justifies it.”

“If you use violence, you have to sell part of yourself for that violence. Then you are no longer a master of your own struggle.”

“Nonviolence is really tough. You don’t practice nonviolence at conferences; you practice it on picket-lines.”

“The only ones who make things change are fanatics. If you’re not a fanatic around here, you can’t cut it.”

“The name of the game is to talk to people. If you don’t talk to people you can’t get started… you knock on twenty doors or so, and twenty guys tell you to go to hell, or they haven’t got the time. But maybe on the fortieth or sixtieth house you find the one guy who is all you need. You’re not going to organize everything; you’re just going to get it started.”

“Together, all things are possible.”

“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community… Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for ours.”

“It takes a lot of punishment to be able to do anything to change the social order.”

“There’s no turning back. We will win. We are winning because ours is a revolution of mind and heart.”

“In the final analysis it doesn’t really matter what the political system is… We don’t need perfect political systems; we need perfect participation.”

 

[Kyle]

HARVEY MILK

“Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard.”

"Hope will not be silent."

“Coming out is the most political thing you can do.”

“Every gay person must come out. As difficult as it is, you must tell your immediate family. You must tell your relatives. You must tell your friends if indeed they are your friends. You must tell the people you work with. You must tell the people in the stores you shop in. Once they realize that we are indeed their children, that we are indeed everywhere, every myth, every lie, every innuendo will be destroyed once and all. And once you do, you will feel so much better”

“Politics is theater. It doesn't matter if you win. You make a statement. You say, ‘I'm here, pay attention to me.'"

"I know that you can not live on hope alone, but without it life is not worth living. And you, and you, and you gotta give them hope."

“You’ve gotta give them hope. If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door!”