Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism - how passionately I hate them!
Albert Einstein

Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.
Abraham Lincoln

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
George Orwell

It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence.
Mahatma Gandhi

In defense of our persons and properties under actual violation, we took up arms. When that violence shall be removed, when hostilities shall cease on the part of the aggressors, hostilities shall cease on our part also.
Thomas Jefferson

I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
Mahatma Gandhi

Violence has been Nicaragua's most important export to the world.
Ronald Reagan

Poverty is the worst form of violence.
Mahatma Gandhi

An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.
Mahatma Gandhi

Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit.
Mahatma Gandhi

The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one's opponent.
Mahatma Gandhi

Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am for violence if non-violence means we continue postponing a solution to the American black man's problem just to avoid violence.
Malcolm X

Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon oneself.
Lao Tzu

War - An act of violence whose object is to constrain the enemy, to accomplish our will.
George Washington

The most important element of a free society, where individual rights are held in the highest esteem, is the rejection of the initiation of violence.
Ron Paul

Legitimate use of violence can only be that which is required in self-defense.
Ron Paul

Of course, violence will not end with our combat mission. Extremists will continue to set off bombs, attack Iraqi civilians and try to spark sectarian strife. But ultimately, these terrorists will fail to achieve their goals.
Barack Obama

I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me.
Hunter S. Thompson