Do not romanticize the poor. We are all people, human beings subject to the same temptations and faults as all others. Our poverty damages our dignity.
CESAR CHAVEZIf you’re not frightened that you might fail, you’ll never do the job. If you’re frightened, you’ll work like crazy.
More Cesar Chavez Quotes
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In some cases non-violence requires more militancy than violence.
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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.
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We do not need to kill or destroy to win. We are a movement that builds and not destroys.
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If you’re not frightened that you might fail, you’ll never do the job. If you’re frightened, you’ll work like crazy.
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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.
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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.
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Our very lives are dependent, for sustenance, on the sweat and sacrifice of the campesinos. Children of farm workers should be as proud of their parents’ professions as other children are of theirs.
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From the depth of need and despair, people can work together, can organize themselves to solve their own problems and fill their own needs with dignity and strength.
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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.
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I’m not going to ask for anything unless the workers want it. If they want it, they’ll ask for 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.
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In giving of yourself, you will discover a whole new life full of.
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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.
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If we are full of hatred, we can’t really do our work. Hatred saps all that strength and energy we need to plan.
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The first principle of non-violent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating.
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History will judge societies and governments – and their institutions – not by how big they are or how well they serve the rich and the powerful, but by how effectively they respond to the needs of the poor and the helpless.
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Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak. Non-violence is hard work.
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I became a vegetarian after realizing that animals feel afraid, cold, hungry and unhappy like we do. I feel very deeply about vegetarianism and the animal kingdom.
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The people united will never be defeated.
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Years of misguided teaching have resulted in the destruction of the best in our society, in our cultures and in the environment.
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You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.
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I am an organizer, not a union leader. A good organizer has to work hard and long. There are no shortcuts. You just keep talking to people, working with them, sharing, exchanging and they come along.
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If you give yourself totally to the nonviolence struggle for peace and justice you also find that people give you their hearts and you will never go hungry and never be alone.
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Preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other.
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Non-violence has suffered its biggest defeat in the hands of people who most want to talk about it.
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When any person suffers for someone in greater need, that person is a human.
CESAR CHAVEZ