Protest

Sunday, August 24, 2014 – Protest

To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men. ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

When an individual is protesting society’s refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him. ~ Bayard Rustin

Against criticism a man can neither protest nor defend himself; he must act in spite of it, and then it will gradually yield to him. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I have not lost faith in God. I have moments of anger and protest. Sometimes I’ve been closer to him for that reason. ~ Elie Wiesel

It is the nature of a man as he grows older- to protest against change, particularly changes for the better. ~ John Steinbeck

Our civilization is founded on the shambles, and every individual existence goes out in a lonely spasm of helpless agony. If you protest, my friend, wait till you arrive there yourself! ~ William James

That only a few, under any circumstances, protest against the injustice of long- established laws and customs, does not disprove the fact of the oppressions, while the satisfaction of the many, if real only proves their apathy and deeper degradation. ~ Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Every new baby is a blind desperate vote for survival: people who find themselves unable to register an effective political protest against extermination do so by a biological act. ~ Lewis Mumford

If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, There lived a great people – a black people – who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

The dissent we witness is a reaffirmation of faith in man; it is protest against living under rules and prejudices and attitudes that produce the extremes of wealth and poverty and that make us dedicated to the destruction of people through arms, bombs, and gases, and that prepare us to think alike and be submissive objects for the regime of the computer. ~ William Orville Douglas

I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service. ~ John Kerry

Against eternal injustice, man must assert justice, and to protest against the universe of grief, he must create happiness. ~ Albert Camus

One who comes to the Court must come to adore, not to protest. That’s the new gloss on the 1st Amendment. ~ William O. Douglas

In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty. ~ Phil Ochs

After this urgent protest against entering into battle at Gettysburg according to instructions – which protest is the first and only one I ever made during my entire military career – I ordered my line to advance and make the assault. ~ John B. Hood

Peaceful, lawful protest – if it is effective – is innately disruptive of ‘business as usual.’ That is why it is effective. ~ Naomi Wolf

That cry of the soul to be lifted out of the bondage of the narrow circle of life, which carries up to God the protest and yearning of suffering man, never finds a more sublime expression than where humanity is oppressed and religion is corrupt. ~ Hall Caine

Disobedience is the true foundation of liberty. The obedient must be slaves. ~ Henry David Thoreau

I learned early that crying out in protest could accomplish things. My older brothers and sister had started to school when, sometimes, they would come in and ask for a buttered biscuit or something and my mother, impatiently, would tell them no. But I would cry out and make a fuss until I got what I wanted. I remember well how my mother asked me why I couldn’t be a nice boy like Wilfred; but I would think to myself that Wilfred, for being so nice and quiet, often stayed hungry. So early in life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise. ~ Malcolm X

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality. ~ Desmond Tutu

Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. ~ John F. Kennedy

Any government’s condemnation of terrorism is only credible if it shows itself to be responsive to persistent, reasonable, closely argued, non-violent dissent. And yet, what’s happening is just the opposite. The world over, non-violent resistance movements are being crushed and broken. If we do not respect and honour them, by default we privilege those who turn to violent means. ~ Arundhati Roy

Now, it’s true that some of the protesters are oddly dressed or have silly-sounding slogans, which is inevitable given the open character of the events. But so what? I, at least, am a lot more offended by the sight of exquisitely tailored plutocrats, who owe their continued wealth to government guarantees, whining that President Obama has said mean things about them than I am by the sight of ragtag young people denouncing consumerism. ~ Paul Krugman

I love America more than any other country in the world and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. ~ James Baldwin

I don’t know about you, but I only have one life, and I don’t want to spend it in a sewer of injustice. ~ Wallace Shawn

I went to jail for eleven days for disturbing the peace; I was trying to disturb the war. ~ Joan Baez

It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor. ~ Neil Gaiman

Protest is when I say I don’t like this. Resistance is when I put an end to what I don’t like. Protest is when I say I refuse to go along with this anymore. Resistance is when I make sure everybody else stops going along too. ~ Ulrike Marie Meinhof

Poets can’t march in protest or do that sort of thing. I feel that’s against the rules, and pointless. If mankind wants a great big final bang, that’s what it’ll get. One should never protest against anything unless it’s going to have an effect. None of those marches do. One should either be silent or go straight to the top. ~ Robert Graves

There is absolutely no greater high than challenging the power structure as a nobody, giving it your all, and winning! ~ Abbie Hoffman

I honk at protestors to show my support, and also tell them to get the fuck out of my way. ~ Jarod Kintz

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