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

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

To resort to power one need not be violent, and to speak to conscience one need not be meek.

Something seems wrong to most people engaged in struggle when they see more people hurt on their own side than on the other side. They are used to reading this as an indication of defeat, and a complete mental readjustment is required of them. Within the new terms of struggle, victory has nothing to do with their being able to give more punishment than they take (quite the reverse); victory has nothing to do with their being able to punish the other at all; it has to do simply with being able, finally, to make the other move... Vengeance is not the point; change is.

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

Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people's minds the thought of victory and the thought of punishing the enemy coincide.

Nonviolent tactics can move into action on our behalf men not naturally inclined to act for us.