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About this quote

What does it mean?
Gandhi defines the non-violent activist as one who never yields to physical force.
In plain terms
A Satyagrahi never surrenders to force.
What can you take from it?
Non-violence requires standing firm against coercion.

Where it applies

  • protests
  • civil disobedience
  • oppression

Putting it to work

  • refuse to surrender to force
  • practice non-violent resistance

Questions to consider

  • Is surrender ever necessary?
  • What is true strength?

Another view

It ignores the practical costs of refusing to surrender.

More from Mahatma Gandhi

  1. In spite of despair staring me in the face on the political horizon, I have never lost my peace. In fact, I have found people who envy my peace. That peace, I …

    Permalink to quote #180
  2. In the dictionary of Satyagraha, there is no enemy.

    Permalink to quote #182
  3. In numbers, Parsis are beneath contempt, but in contribution, beyond compare.

    Permalink to quote #179

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