“It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. Violence is any day preferable to impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent.”
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Source: Young India, 11 August 1920 - 'The Doctrine of the Sword'.
About this quote
Restraint only counts as courage when you could have struck and chose not to. The sharp distinction is between principled non-violence and plain fear wearing its costume — and the honest starting point is naming which of the two is actually yours.
When to use it
- A stronger sibling who declines to hit back out of choice, not fear of losing
- A worker who could retaliate against a rival but refuses on principle rather than timidity
- Admitting you dodged a confrontation because you were scared, not because you took the high road