“In the no-nonsense school of adversity, which we did not choose for ourselves, we are learning how to operate a labor union.”

Our struggle is not easy. Those who oppose our cause are rich and powerful and they have many allies in high places. We are poor. Our allies are few. But we have something the rich do not own. We have our bodies and spirits and the justice of our cause as our weapons.

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.

It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity.

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.

If you are interested in preventing animal suffering, the first thing you should give up is eggs and milk, because the animals who produce those foods lead the most unhappy lives. You would do better to eat meat and stop eating eggs and dairy products.

Because we have suffered, and we are not afraid to suffer in order to survive, we are ready to give up everything – even our lives – in our struggle for justice.

Through Gandhi and my own life experience, I have learned about nonviolence. I believe that human life is a very special gift from God, and that no one has a right to take that away in any cause, however just. I am convinced that nonviolence is more powerful than violence.

There is enough love and good will in our movement to give energy to our struggle and still have plenty left over to break down and change the climate of hate and fear around us.

Self dedication is a spiritual experience.

The first principle of non-violent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating.

Concentration is inspiration. You must be completely overtaken by your work and your subject. Only then do all your influences and experience come up to the surface.

It’s ironic that those who till the soil, cultivate and harvest the fruits, vegetables, and other foods that fill your tables with abundance have nothing left for themselves.

Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.

The love for justice that is in us is not only the best part of our being but it is also the most true to our nature.

Never, never is it possible to reach someone if you become angry or bitter only love and gentleness can do it. Maybe not this time but maybe the next or the hundredth time.

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

The interesting adults are always the school failures, the weird ones, the losers, the malcontents, this isn’t wishful thinking. It’s the rule.

If we learn from the experience, there is no failure, only delayed victory.

The older you get, the more you should learn to love life and appreciate the beauty that comes with age.

I have learned to live each day as it comes, and not to borrow trouble by dreading tomorrow.

The peoples of the Mediterranean began to emerge from barbarism when they learned to cultivate the olive and the vine.

We grew up founding our dreams on the infinite promise of American advertising. I still believe that one can learn to play the piano by mail and that mud will give you a perfect complexion.

If you can learn to like how you look, and not the way you think you look, it can set you free.

The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.