I’m not going to ask for anything unless the workers want it. If they want it, they’ll ask for it.
CESAR CHAVEZI’m not going to ask for anything unless the workers want it. If they want it, they’ll ask for it.
CESAR CHAVEZIn this world it is possible to achieve great material wealth, to live an opulent life. But a life built upon those things alone leaves a shallow legacy. In the end, we will be judged by other standards.
CESAR CHAVEZThe non-violent technique does not depend for its success on the goodwill of the oppressor, but rather on the unfailing assistance of God.
CESAR CHAVEZOnce social change begins, it cannot be reversed.
CESAR CHAVEZThe first principle of non-violent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating.
CESAR CHAVEZViolence just hurts those who are already hurt. Instead of exposing the brutality of the oppressor, it justifies it.
CESAR CHAVEZDr. King challenged us to work for a greater humanity. I only hope that we are worthy of his challenge.
CESAR CHAVEZNonviolence is really tough. You don’t practice nonviolence at conferences; you practice it on picket-lines.
CESAR CHAVEZYou 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.
CESAR CHAVEZThere’s no turning back. We will win. We are winning because ours is a revolution of mind and heart.
CESAR CHAVEZWe draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure.
CESAR CHAVEZWhen any person suffers for someone in greater need, that person is a human.
CESAR CHAVEZIn the final analysis it doesn’t really matter what the political system is. We don’t need perfect political systems; we need perfect participation.
CESAR CHAVEZOur language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.
CESAR CHAVEZWhen 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.
CESAR CHAVEZNon-violence has suffered its biggest defeat in the hands of people who most want to talk about it.
CESAR CHAVEZ