Pacifist Quotes

“Wise men are not pacifists; they are merely less likely to jump up and retaliate against their antagonizers. They know that needless antagonizers are virtually already insecure enough.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy

“As a citizen of the world, I stand only with Truth and my conscience is my only leader. This is the only way to peace and justice on earth. To always do the right thing, be the right person, and stand with whoever is right always and forever.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“Bože moj...
Prošao sam kroz Vukovar mnogo puta...(...)
Kad sam dolazio sa zapadne strane, iz Italije, sa mora, iz Zagreba ili Ljubljane, tu sam prvi put nailazio na putokaz za Novi Sad, i, iako je kraj imena moje varoši čitko pisalo ''82 km'', tog momenta sam, iz bezbroj razloga, uvek računao da sam stigao Kući?
Dudule je u pravu, liče, još kako liče...
Ne samo zbog Dunava, bokora zelenila, austrougarskih kućerina i rasipnički širokih ulica, već (i uglavnom), zbog pitomosti, zbog onog retkog osjećaja koji mi se javljao samo u naročitim gradovima, da bi tu i u tri po ponoći mogao prošetati s Onom Koju Volim, ne zazirući od automobila koji usporavaju, i ne prelazeći na drugu stranu kad neko naiđe u susret...
Puno puta je vukovarski vazduh pirnuo pod svodovima mojih pluća, svirala je tu ona ista muzika na koju i ja plešem svoj život, mirni ljudi i stabilne lađe, tesne suknje i komotne čarde, obala i gimnazija, korzo i pozorište, sasvim dovoljno za pametnog čoveka...
A opet...
Bojim se da na taj gradić nikad više neću pomisliti onako kako ga se sećam, nego onako kako mi se prikazao u sledećoj Duletovoj tišini, u onoj poslednjoj, najdužoj, koju nisam ni uspeo da odbrojim do kraja, jer je otišao nenadano, ne rekavši pozdrav...”
― Đorđe Balašević

“I do what I do because I love God, as I love your children, as I love humanity, as I love peace, truth, and justice for all. I may not be a fan of religion, but I am a big fan of God. I choose not to subscribe to any one religion because I recognize truths in them all — both the truths and flaws. For anybody to believe that any father would want to see his children fighting is madness. It does not make the Creator happy to see anybody massacre any of his beautiful creations. If you must know the religion I choose, I choose LOVE. If you must know the name of my god, his name is Truth, or rather 'He Who is One, The One Who is All.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“Love has turned many into poets; pain has turned many into artists; charity has turned many into pacifists, and anger has turned many into activists.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo

“In the Second World War he took no public part, having escaped to a neutral country just before its outbreak. In private conversation he was wont to say that homicidal lunatics were well employed in killing each other, but that sensible men would keep out of their way while they were doing it. Fortunately this outlook, which is reminiscent of Bentham, has become rare in this age, which recognizes that heroism has a value independent of its utility. The Last Survivor of a Dead Epoch”
― Bertrand Russell

“Convince and enemy, convince him that he's wrong, is to win a bloodless battle where victory is long. A simple act of faith, is reason over might, To blow up his children would only prove him right.”
― Gordon "Sting" Sumner

“Someone once told me a joke," he said. "I'd like to be a pacifist, but people keep getting in the way.' I made a decision to fight for my friend in prison. It was a deliberate decision. It isn't the only way-it's just something I decided.”
― Edeet Ravel, Held

“I prefer 'buccaneers',' he grinned. 'A small privately funded army of committed peacekeepers. Tough, but fair. Our motto is: We put the fist in 'pacifist'.”
― Cash Peters, Force of Habit: Sister Madeleine Investigates

“I am a pacifist, but be aware that I also carry a gun.”
― M.F. Moonzajer, LOVE, HATRED AND MADNESS

“The autocorrect on my phone must be a pacifist. Every time I type ''going to war'', it changes it to ''going to eat.'' Either that or it's getting kickbacks from the local restaurants.”
― Stewart Stafford

“Gandhi Topi' is no longer an attire of the pacifist.”
― Mukesh Kwatra

“One way or another, we all fight for what we believe in. Doesn't that give us some common ground?”
― Tom Clancy, 'The Cardinal Of The Kremlin'

“During the antiglobalization years at the turn of twenty-first century, I frequently found myself in baffling arguments about the use of "violence" in demonstrations with pacifists or others who self-described as adhering to a strict code of nonviolence. Many of the same folks who argued that we shouldn't do anything that could hurt someone else's property consistently yelled at their companions until they felt threatened, and engaged in intensely damaging emotional manipulations and passive-aggressive maneuvers in meetings and during demonstrations. Countless times, I saw "nonviolent" demonstrators physically hurt other protestors by attempting to drag them out of the streets for spray painting a wall or breaking a window.

Why do people feel justified in trying to pacify others--often with little context for one another? Such vehement attempts to try to contain other's rage and rebellion leads to an unnecessary escalation of conflict between those of us who should be able to struggle together instead of against one another. (Original Zine: Ain't no PC Gonna Fix it, Baby. 2013.
Featured in: A Critique of Ally Politics. Taking Sides.)”
― M.

“Being pacifist is being lethal to oneself, the only history that remains unchanged”
― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar

“Thee knows. . .dying's only half of it. Any of us hear, I hope. . .is ready to die for what he believes. If it's asked of us and can be turned to good account. I'm not one for dying, willy-nilly, thee understands. . . .It's an awful final thing, and more often and not nobody's much discommoded by it, except thyself, but there are times when it's the only answer a man can give to certain questions. Then I'm for it. But thee's not been asked such a question, now. Thee can go out on the pike. . .and thee'll be . . .as dead and just as forgotten as if thee'd tied a stone round they neck and jumped off Clifty Falls. No, Josh, dying won't turn the trick. What thee'll be asked to do now - is kill.'

The word hung in the air. A fly circled the table, loudly and slowly, and still the sound of the word was there. . . .louder than the ugly humming. It hung in the air like an open wound. Kill. In the Quaker household the word was bare and stark. Bare as in Cain and Abel's time with none of the panoply of wars and regiments and campaigns to clothe it. Kill. Kill a man. Kill thy brother. . . .”
― Jessamyn West, The Friendly Persuasion

“For his enemies' sake, the good boy, the really dangerous man, fights to never fight again; whereas the bad boy, the proud man, fights that he might never fight again.”
― Criss Jami

“The Key to Peace: Stop blaming each other. Do better next time.”
― Signe Knutson, Lovolution 23: Poems and Songs

“War is the symptom,
patriotism is the disease.
Terrorists harbor patriotism,
Reformists harbor peace.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“You know what distinguishes a reformist from a terrorist! The capacity to destroy the world, yet choosing not to.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Nationalism manufactures more widows and orphans than disease and disaster.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Cannot end cruelty with cruelty.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Nationalists mark borders by raising guns,
like dogs mark their territory by raising legs.
Monkeys seek refuge in archaic sovereignty,
Human am I, my refuge is the human race.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Soldiers are just government approved terrorists.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“A bigot dying at a human's hand is far worse than a human dying at a bigot's hand.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets

“Assassinating a bigot is easy,
Ending bigotry is the real objective.
Kill one chimp, ten more will take his place.
Render 'em irrelevant, 'n they're walking invalid.”
― Abhijit Naskar, World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets