People may find it more comfortable to listen to us if we equivocate, but in the long run only words that discomfort them are going to change our situation.

most Americans are in deep awe of things-as-they-are. Even with everything this obviously out of control, they still tell themselves that those in authority must know what they are doing, and must be describing our condition to us as it really is; they still take it for granted that somehow what is, what is done, must make sense, can't really be insane. These assumptions exercise a tyranny over their minds.

People who attack others need rationalizations for doing so. We undermine those rationalizations.

Surely all of us are nerved by one another, catch courage from one another.

Think first of the action that is right to take, think later about coping with one's fears.

We learn best to listen to our own voices if we are listening at the same time to other women-whose stories, for all our differences, turn out, if we listen well, to be our stories also.

Nonviolent action does not have to get others to be nice. It can in effect force them to consult their consciences.