When the man who feeds the world by toiling in the fields is himself deprived of the basic rights of feeding, sheltering, and caring for his own family, the whole community of man is sick.
CESAR CHAVEZThe only ones who make things change are fanatics. If you’re not a fanatic around here, you can’t cut it.
More Cesar Chavez Quotes
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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 our own.
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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.
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You are never strong enough that you don’t need help.
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When a man or woman, young, or old, takes a place on the picket line for even a day or two, he will never be the same again.
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Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed.
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Every time we sit at a table at night or in the morning to enjoy the fruits and grain and vegetables from our good earth, remember that they come from the work of men and women and children who have been exploited for generations.
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When any person suffers for someone in greater need, that person is a human.
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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.
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We have looked into the future and the future is ours.
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It’s amazing how people can get so excited about a rocket to the moon and not give a damn about smog, oil leaks, the devastation of the environment with pesticides, hunger, disease.
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We are suffering. We have suffered. And we are not afraid to suffer in order to win our cause.
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Being of service is not enough. You must become a servant of the people. When you do, you can demand their commitment in return.
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We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community – and this nation.
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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.
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Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well with others.
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The first principle of non-violent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating.
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What I do shows people what kind of person I am.
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Nonviolence is really tough. You don’t practice nonviolence at conferences; you practice it on picket-lines.
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Students must have initiative; they should not be mere imitators. They must learn to think and act for themselves – and be free.
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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.
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Violence just hurts those who are already hurt. Instead of exposing the brutality of the oppressor, it justifies it.
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The non-violent technique does not depend for its success on the goodwill of the oppressor, but rather on the unfailing assistance of God.
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There’s no reason to be non-violent. There’s no challenge unless you are living for people.
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True wealth is not measured in money or status or power. It is measured in the legacy we leave behind for those we love and those we inspire.
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I’ve always maintained that it isn’t the form that’s going to make the difference. It isn’t the rule or the procedure or the ideology, but it’s human beings that will make it.
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We’ll organize workers in this movement as long as we’re willing to sacrifice. The moment we stop sacrificing, we stop organizing.
CESAR CHAVEZ