A great many of us [must] move from words to acts - from words of dissent to acts of disobedience. |
I learned always to trust my own deep sense of what I should do, and not just obediently trust the judgment of others – even others better than I am. |
I think the only choice that will enable us to hold to our vision. . . is one that abandons the concept of naming enemies and adopts a concept familiar to the nonviolent tradition: naming behavior that is oppressive . . . |
Make it impossible for [the authority] to operate within the system as usual . . . making it impossible for him simply to strike back without thought and with all his strength. |
Nonviolent actions does not have to get others to be nice. It can in effect force them to consult their consciences. |
The longer we listen to one another - with real attention - the more commonality we will find in all our lives. That is, if we are careful to exchange with one another life stories and not simply opinions. |
Think first of the action that is right to take, think later about coping with one's fears. |
To resort to power one need not be violent, and to speak to conscience one need not be meek. The most effective action both resorts to power and engages conscience. |
Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people's minds the thought of victory and the thought of punishing the enemy coincide. |
We learn best to listen to our own voices if we are listening at the same time to other women -- whose stories, for all our differences, turn out, if we listen well, to be our stories also. |