“Ahimsa is not the way of the timid or the cowardly. It is the way of the brave ready to face death. He who perishes sword in hand is, no doubt, brave, but he who faces death without raising his little finger, is braver. But he who surrenders his rice bags for fear of being beaten, is a coward and no votary of Ahimsa. He is innocent of Ahimsa. He, who for fear of being beaten, suffers the women of his household to be insulted, is not manly, but just the reverse. He is fit neither to be a husband nor a father, nor a brother. Such people have no right to complain.”
Share this quote
About this quote
There is a sharp line here between brave restraint and plain cowardice. Someone who won't strike back yet faces danger head-on acts from strength; someone who submits only out of fear does not. Refusing violence is meant to be the harder path, not an excuse to cave when things get frightening.
When to use it
- An employee reports a safety violation openly, ready to face the fallout instead of quietly quitting.
- Someone holds their ground in a heated argument without raising a hand or fleeing the room.
- A student refuses to cheat under peer pressure and accepts the harder, honest grade.