You know, if people are not pacifists, it's not their fault. It's because society puts them in that spot. You've got to change it. You don't just change a man - you've got to change his environment as you do it. Cesar Chavez More Quotes by Cesar Chavez More Quotes From Cesar Chavez Imagine the National Guard being called against a group of peaceful people. How far can we get; how disgraceful can it become? It's the most disgraceful, the most wicked thing I've seen in all my years of organizing farm labor. Cesar Chavez peaceful people years Money is not going to organize the disadvantaged, the powerless, or the poor. We need other weapons. That's why the War on Poverty is such a miserable failure. You put out a big pot of money and all you do is fight over it. Then you run out of money and you run out of troops. Cesar Chavez fighting running war When workers fall back on violence, they are lost. Oh, they might win some of their demands and might end a strike a little earlier, but they give up their imagination, their creativity, their will to work hard and to suffer for what they believe is right. Cesar Chavez giving-up believe fall it is clearly evident that our path travels through a valley of teas well known to all farm workers, because in all valleys the way of the farm worker has bene one of sacrifice for generations. Our sweat and our blood have fallen on this land to make other men rich. This Pilgrimage is a witness to the suffering we have seen for generations. Cesar Chavez sacrifice men blood It takes a lot of punishment to be able to do anything to change the social order. Cesar Chavez punishment sacrifice order Across the San Joaquin Valley, across California, across the entire Southwest of the United States, wherever there are Mexican people, wherever there are farm workers, our movement is spreading like flames across a dry plain. Cesar Chavez eagles men children The end of all knowledge must be the building up of character. Cesar Chavez building-up educational character ...the workers aren't going to stop struggling. They're going to struggle to have a union and they have the right to have it. The police repression and the grower indifference to the workers' demands for recognition cannot go unheard so we're going to keep on struggling until we get that recognition. Cesar Chavez demand police struggle Do not romanticize the poor...We are all people, human beings subject to the same temptations and faults as all others. Our poverty damages our dignity. Cesar Chavez poverty temptation people We are certain God's will is that all men share in the good things this earth produces. Cesar Chavez humanity earth men We are convinced that non-violence is more powerful than violence. We are convinced that non-violence supports you if you have a just and moral cause...If you use violence, you have to sell part of yourself for that violence. Then you are no longer a master of your own struggle. Cesar Chavez powerful war peace Our conviction is that human life and limb are a very special possession given by God to man and that no one has the right to take that away, in any cause, however just... Cesar Chavez humanity special men However important the struggle is and however much misery and poverty and degradation exist, we know that it cannot be more important than one human life. Cesar Chavez degradation important struggle The thing that we have going for us is that people are willing to sacrifice themselves. Cesar Chavez self-sacrifice sacrifice people We are organizers at heart. Most of us in the movement take great pride in being able to put things together. Cesar Chavez pride together heart ...people think non-violence is really weak and non-militant. These are misconceptions that people have because they don't understand what non-violence means. Non-violence takes more guts, if I can put it bluntly, than violence. Most violent acts are accomplished by getting the opponent off guard, and it doesn't take that much character, I think, if one wants to do it. Cesar Chavez character mean thinking In non-violence the cause has to be just and clear as well as the means. Cesar Chavez causes violence mean Non-violence is very weak in the theoretical sense; it cannot defend itself. But it is most powerful in the action situation where people are using non-violence because they want desperately to bring about some change. Non-violence in action is a very potent force and it can't be stopped. The people who are struggling have the complete say-so. No man-made law, no human ruler, no army can destroy this. There is no way it can be destroyed... And so, if we have the capacity to endure, if we have the patience, things will change. Cesar Chavez army powerful struggle Who gets the risks? The risks are given to the consumer, the unsuspecting consumer and the poor work force. And who gets the benefits? The benefits are only for the corporations, for the money makers. Cesar Chavez environmental benefits risk The only ones who make things change are fanatics. If you're not a fanatic around here, you can't cut it. Cesar Chavez things-change fanatics cutting
