Sammy Davis Jr. Quotes

Dr. King used Gandhi's commitment to non-violence and to passive resistance.

Let me just say: Peace to you, if you're willing to fight for it.

That's all nonviolence is - organized love.

The assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy led directly to the passage of a historic law, the Gun Control Act of 1968.

I'm not violent, I don't believe in killing people, but standing up for yourself, speaking out against injustice, is another form of vengeance.

I think 'Make love, not war' might be the most profound statement that's ever been made.

People respond in accordance to how you relate to them. If you approach them on the basis of violence, that's how they'll react. But if you say, 'We want peace, we want stability,' we can then do a lot of things that will contribute towards the progress of our society.

Anybody who resorts to violence will have no friends in the United States.

I want peace and am willing to fight for it.

We've never advocated violence; violence is inflicted upon us. But we do believe in self-defense for ourselves and for black people.

I remember back in the 1960s - late '50s, really - reading a comic book called 'Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Story.' Fourteen pages. It sold for 10 cents. And this little book inspired me to attend non-violence workshops, to study about Gandhi, about Thoreau, to study Martin Luther King, Jr., to study civil disobedience.

History doesn't give credence for resorting to violence to have your voice heard.

I myself would go for nonviolence if it was consistent, if everybody was going to be nonviolent all the time. I'd say, okay, let's get with it, we'll all be nonviolent. But I don't go along with any kind of nonviolence unless everybody's going to be nonviolent. If they make the Ku Klux Klan nonviolent, I'll be nonviolent. If they make the White Citizens Council nonviolent, I'll be nonviolent. But as long as you've got somebody else not being nonviolent, I don't want anybody coming to me talking any nonviolent talk.

Non-violence has suffered its biggest defeat in the hands of people who most want to talk about it.

I wouldn't take up arms. I think that might be a little extreme.

[Malcolm X] had said a great deal about nonviolence, criticizing nonviolence, and saying that I approved of Negro men and women being bitten by dogs and the fire hoses, and I say, say go on and not defend yourself. I think this kind of response grew out of the build up, all of the talk about my being a sort of polished Uncle Tom.

Non-violence is a piece of theatre. You need an audience. What can you do when you have no audience?

When I marched with Martin Luther King in Selma, I felt my legs were praying.

Non-violence should be a tactic - not an ideology preached from the sidelines to victims of massive violence.

Malcolm X made it very clear that if somebody goes after you - whether it's cops or not - you have to defend yourself. But he was not an advocate for violence the way the Black Panthers were.

Tolstoy was the greatest apostle of nonviolence that the present age has produced.

Are you looking for a Negro who won't fight back?

In a world built on violence, one must be a revolutionary before one can be a pacifist.

Jesus-murdered. Martin Luther King-murdered. Gandhi-murdered. Malcolm X-murdered. Reagan-wounded.

I'm going to join them", he said. And he did. When Sveva fled, Rath stayed and fought with the rebels. And died with them, right there at the toes of the mountains. And was dragged with them into a big pile. And burned