"At the meeting I argued that the..." - Quote by Nelson Mandela
At the meeting I argued that the state had given us no alternative to violence. I said it was wrong and immoral to subject our people to armed attacks by the state without offering them some kind of alternative. I mentioned again that people on their own had taken up arms. Violence would begin whether we initiated it or not. Would it not be better to guide this violence ourselves, according to principles where we saved lives by attacking symbols of oppression, and not people? If we did not take the lead now, I said, we would soon be latecomers and followers to a movement we did not control.
More by Nelson Mandela
“I learned to have the patience to listen when people put forward their views, even if I think those views are wrong. You can't reach a just decision in a dispute unless you listen to both sides.”
“If you look at those matters, you will come to the conclusion that the attitude of the United States of America is a threat to world peace.”
“It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.”
More on Violence
“In defense of our persons and properties under actual violation, we took up arms. When that violence shall be removed, when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, hostilities shall cease on our part also.”
“The cutting of heads is become so much a la mode, that one is apt to feel of a morning whether their own is on their shoulders.”
“True nonviolence is mightier than the mightiest violence.”
More on Resistance
“Her feelings were her own, and could not be altered from outside. It would not have occurred to her that an action which is ineffectual thereby becomes meaningless. If you loved someone, you loved him, and when you had nothing else to give, you still gave him love.”
“The reformer has enemies in all who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order.”
“James Allen says 'We curse the effect and nourish the cause.' The guy puts sand in his shoes and he can hardly walk and you ask why would you do that? Why would we wish for it to change, hope for it to change, but all the while resisting change?”