Elie Wiesel Quotes

What matters most is not who is sitting in the White House, but "who is sitting in" - and who is marching outside the White House, pushing for change.

The big dividing line is not and has never been between those who advocate more or less militant forms of resistance, or between mainstream and grassroots activists. The dividing line is between those who do something and those who do nothing.

There is a weapon we can fight with. That is the weapon of political action.

Each of us should choose which course of action we must take; education, conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience to bring about necessary changes, but let it not be said that we did nothing.

If civil disobedience is the way to go about change, than I think a lot of people will be going to San Francisco

If people were silent, nothing would change.

True resistance begins with people confronting pain... and wanting to do something to change it.

If you aren't an activist you're an inactivist.

If the government fails to listen to your demands, then you will decide what is best for you.

We can all become activists and raise questions.

I was always interested in social change but never actually did anything about it.

I think voting is the lowest form of political action that you can do. A lot of times, it keeps people from doing stronger things.

Before running for the Washington State Senate in 2014, I had spent 20 years as an activist. I had always believed that we needed to push for change on the outside, through community organizing and advocacy.

Maybe we should raise our voices, ask somebody why. But demonstrations are a drag, besides we're much too high.

There comes an hour when protest no longer suffices; after philosophy there must be action; the strong hand finishes what the idea has sketched.

You're either an activist or an inactivist. I want to stop this.

There is a point in fighting. There is a point in struggle. Not wholesale revolution, maybe, that might not be possible, an absolutely just society, but there are plenty of spaces and places where it's worth putting up a fight.

Change only takes place through action, not through meditation and prayer.

Standing up to your government can mean standing up for your country.

I think direct political action, civil disobedience, in particular, is something to be taken very seriously.

If you're aware of injustice, you can either ignore it, say there is nothing you can do about it, complain about it and not do anything, or put your energies into doing something about it.

I want to make activism a bigger part of my life, while hopefully maintaining the opportunity to help out causes that I really care about. And being an actor allows me to do that. Shooting a Cisco commercial allows me to do that. I mean, doing all these things allows me to talk about these issues. But don't think there aren't those moments where I'm like, "What am I doing? I have to quit my job and chain myself to a tree." Believe me, I have those moments.

It's useful for activists just to be out there to keep you mindful and not get complacent, even if ultimately you think some of their criticism is misguided.

I became active in politics because I saw the possibility, if we all sat back and did nothing, of a world in which there would no longer be any stages for actors to act on.

I'm involved in issues, and issues are about grass-roots politics.