See also: Non-violence
My study of Gandhi convinced me that true pacifism is not non-resistance to evil, but non-violent resistance to evil. Between the two positions, there is a world of difference. Gandhi resisted evil with as much vigor and power as the violent resister, but true pacifism is not unrealistic submission to evil power. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love.
There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it’s right. At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love. Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.
Martin Luther King, Jr
The cause of peace has had a share of my efforts, taking the ultra non-resistance ground – that a Christian cannot consistently uphold, and actively support, a government based on the sword, or whose ultimate resort is to the destroying weapon.
Lucretia Mott