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!
CESAR CHAVEZHistory 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.
More Cesar Chavez Quotes
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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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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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A symbol is an important thing. That is why we chose an Aztec eagle. It gives pride. When people see it they know it means dignity.
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Those who are willing to sacrifice and be of service have very little difficulty with people. They know what they are all about. People can’t help but want to be near them. They help them; they work with them. That’s what love is all about. It starts with your heart and radiates out.
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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.
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The end of all knowledge must be the building up of character.
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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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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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Real education should consist of drawing the goodness and the best out of our own students. What better books can there be than the book of humanity?
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You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.
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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.
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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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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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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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Our language is the reflection of ourselves.
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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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There’s no reason to be non-violent. There’s no challenge unless you are living for people.
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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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To make a great dream come true, the first requirement is a great capacity to dream; the second is persistence.
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When any person suffers for someone in greater need, that person is a human.
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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.
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In some cases non-violence requires more militancy than violence.
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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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We have looked into the future and the future is ours.
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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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The only ones who make things change are fanatics. If you’re not a fanatic around here, you can’t cut it.
CESAR CHAVEZ