“Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak. Non-violence is hard work.”

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.

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.

You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read.

You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.

I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men!

Nonviolence is really tough. You don’t practice nonviolence at conferences; you practice it on picket-lines.

The people united will never be defeated.

When any person suffers for someone in greater need, that person is a human.

We believe that unions have always been about much more than the industries in which they operate. The fight is never about grapes or lettuce, It is always about people.

Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action comes, stop thinking and go in.

If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.

It is my wish to fill every moment of my time with some action of the mind which may contribute to the pleasure or the improvement of my fellow creatures.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

Waiting for the 100 percent right and certain solution leads to delay, indecision, and an inability to execute.

Sometimes, when you’re doing too much, things get overwhelming. So I just have to calm myself down and think, ‘What would my mama want me to do?’

Relax. Look around. Make a call.

To do is to be.