Quotes: Non-violence
Non-violence on this page is presented as both an inner discipline and a public art: managing anger, responding with compassion, and allowing time to dissolve the urge for revenge. The selections offer complementary approaches — emotional restraint, ethical example, and patient non-retaliation — that turn reflex into deliberate choice.
The recurring tension is whether to act directly or to trust process: should one remake the world by example, uphold firmness through kindness, or let time carry away the offense? Voices such as the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi and Laozi probe these paths and invite you to try the quiet power of non-violence.
3 quotes on this theme, each with its source and insight
The quotes
“Anger cannot be overcome by anger. If a person shows anger to you, and you show anger in return, the result is a disaster. In contrast, if you control your anger and show its opposite—love, compassion, tolerance, and patience—then not only will you remain in peace, but the anger of others also will gradually diminish.”
Source: no specific work is documented · Check the source
Disputed attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The wording is widely attributed online to the 14th Dalai Lama, but no primary source (speech, book, or dated text) for this exact phrasing has been located.
- What remains uncertain
- Attribution is disputed: the exact passage lacks verifiable sourcing and reads like a modern paraphrase of older Buddhist teachings.
The line points out that meeting anger with anger fuels escalation rather than resolution. Commonly credited to the 14th Dalai Lama, it reflects a lived Buddhist ethic: regulate your response and apply patience and compassion so conflict can cool rather than flare.
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Source: no specific work is documented · Check the source
Disputed attributionWhat we know
- What is documented
- The wording is commonly credited to Gandhi but no primary source has been found; the closest authentic passage is a 1913 text about self-change altering worldly tendencies.
- What remains uncertain
- Scholars judge the short sentence apocryphal—a later paraphrase—since the exact phrase is absent from Gandhi’s published works and shows up in modern decades.
The line captures Gandhi’s central claim that social change begins with self-transformation. It’s not found in his Collected Works; instead it compresses a longer, documented argument that changing ourselves alters social tendencies.
“If someone has offended you, do not seek revenge. Sit by the river and soon you will see the body of your enemy float by.”
Source: Rising Sun, film, 1993 · Check the source
MisattributedWhat we know
- What is documented
- Research indicates the wording is absent from the Dao De Jing; the earliest documented use appears in the 1993 film Rising Sun.
- What remains uncertain
- The attribution to Laozi is disputed and likely apocryphal: the phrase resembles Daoist ideas but has no attested classical source and was popularized in modern media.
The river image teaches a clear tactic: patience and non‑escalation often undo an enemy more surely than revenge. It fits the Daoist spirit of soft strength—letting events run their course rather than attacking—and works as a practical rule for keeping composure when wronged.