--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Now, myself, I'm not a pacifist at all. I…" description: "\"Now, myself, I'm not a pacifist at all. I believe in just war. I would have joined the spirit of the nation to fight against apartheid.\" — Cornel West" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/004/cornel-west-708_apartheid_now-myself-i-m-not-a-pacifist-at-all-i-b_763032.jpg" --- # Now, myself, I'm not a pacifist at all. I believe in just… ![“Now, myself, I'm not a pacifist at all. I believe in just war. I would have joined the spirit of the nation to fight against apartheid.” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/004/cornel-west-708_apartheid_now-myself-i-m-not-a-pacifist-at-all-i-b_763032.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/004/cornel-west-708_apartheid_now-myself-i-m-not-a-pacifist-at-all-i-b_763032.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/004/cornel-west-708_apartheid_now-myself-i-m-not-a-pacifist-at-all-i-b_763032.jpg) > “Now, myself, I'm not a pacifist at all. I believe in just war. I would have joined the spirit of the nation to fight against apartheid.” [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He rejects pacifism, supporting just war against oppression like apartheid. **In simple terms:** Supports fighting oppression through just war. Key Takeaway Stand against injustice with moral action. Themes justice politics ethics activism Mood serious determined Type philosophical activist When to use this quote - social movements - policy advocacy - education - community organizing Key Concepts political theory human rights Questions to Reflect On - What defines a “just” war for you? - How can non‑violent resistance complement armed struggle? A Different Perspective Just war theory can be contested and misapplied. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Apartheid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apartheid/) [Fight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fight/) [Pacifist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pacifist/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [I personally am not a total pacifist. I do believe there is such a thing as a just war. I believe, for instance, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-personally-am-not-a-total-pacifist-i-do-believe-there-is-such-a/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [I'm not a pacifist at all; I think there is a notion of "just war" that can be persuasively argued. I think in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-m-not-a-pacifist-at-all-i-think-there-is-a-notion-of-just-war-that/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I led the fight here against apartheid as President of the ACTU, including particularly the Springbok tour in 1971. And that led to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hawke/i-led-the-fight-here-against-apartheid-as-president-of-the-actu/) [Bob Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hawke/) > [I assumed the leadership within the Commonwealth for the fight against apartheid. I was very much assisted by Brian Mulroney, the Prime Minister of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hawke/i-assumed-the-leadership-within-the-commonwealth-for-the-fight/) [Bob Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hawke/) > [I remember my emotions the day we watched Nelson Mandela walk out of prison Writing & literature in South Africa during the anti-apartheid years,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/achmat-dangor/i-remember-my-emotions-the-day-we-watched-nelson-mandela-walk-out-of/) Achmat Dangor > [I'm not a pacifist. I do believe that, unfortunately, war is necessary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-hoffman/i-m-not-a-pacifist-i-do-believe-that-unfortunately-war-is-necessary/) Mike Hoffman > [I am not a pacifist, however I do believe that the U.S. tends to resort to force too quickly. I am not referring only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scar-arias/i-am-not-a-pacifist-however-i-do-believe-that-the-u-s-tends-to-resort/) [Oscar Arias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scar-arias/) > [I'm a pacifist. I believe there are ways to solve the world's problems. Instead of putting all this money to create arms, I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjane-satrapi/i-m-a-pacifist-i-believe-there-are-ways-to-solve-the-world-s-problems/) [Marjane Satrapi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjane-satrapi/) > [Martin Luther King Jr's agenda was not to help Negroes overcome American apartheid in the south. It was to make America democracy a better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/martin-luther-king-jr-s-agenda-was-not-to-help-negroes-overcome/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Just as war is the natural consequence of monopoly, peace is the natural consequence of liberty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-de-molinari/just-as-war-is-the-natural-consequence-of-monopoly-peace-is-the/) [Gustave de Molinari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-de-molinari/) > [A "just war" is hospitable to every self-deception on the part of those waging it, none more than the certainty of virtue, under whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-cockburn/a-just-war-is-hospitable-to-every-self-deception-on-the-part-of-those/) [Alexander Cockburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-cockburn/) > [An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/an-eye-for-an-eye-and-a-tooth-for-a-tooth/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [Wars results in immediate deaths and destruction, but the environmental consequences can last hundreds, often thousands of years. And it is not just war…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rosalie-bertell/wars-results-in-immediate-deaths-and-destruction-but-the/) [Rosalie Bertell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rosalie-bertell/) > [A just war is in the long run far better for a man's soul than the most prosperous peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/a-just-war-is-in-the-long-run-far-better-for-a-man-s-soul-than-the/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [Perhaps the greatest contribution that those of us who come from a Christian tradition can make is to throw out the old just-war theory,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mairead-corrigan/perhaps-the-greatest-contribution-that-those-of-us-who-come-from-a/) [Mairead Corrigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mairead-corrigan/) ## More by Cornel West > [There has certainly been ugly, right-wing hatred targeting Barack Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-has-certainly-been-ugly-right-wing-hatred-targeting-barack-obama/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-feel-as-if-i-have-been-blessed-to-undergo-a-transformation-from/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-king-we-need-to-put-on-our-cemetery-clothes-and-be-coffin-ready/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ “You can't really move forward until you look back. \[From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-t-really-move-forward-until-you-look-back-from-remaking/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/when-we-think-of-globalization-we-are-thinking-in-part-of-structures/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-challenge-artists-face-today-is-whether-to-be-an-underground/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The need of black conservatives to gain the respect of their white peers deeply shapes certain elements of their conservatism. In this regard, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-need-of-black-conservatives-to-gain-the-respect-of-their-white/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I don't draw any distinctions between forms of bigotry or forms of ideology that lose sight of the humanity of people. I can't stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-don-t-draw-any-distinctions-between-forms-of-bigotry-or-forms-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Barack Obama has domesticated the left in such a way that we feel as if we have no alternative but him...I refuse to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/barack-obama-has-domesticated-the-left-in-such-a-way-that-we-feel-as/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-someone-is-the-gift-of-inspiration/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [You can see it in terms of the obsession on Wall Street with not just profits but greed, more profit, more profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-see-it-in-terms-of-the-obsession-on-wall-street-with-not-just/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Explore all 400 Cornel West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## More Apartheid quotes > [My life had been defined by the apartheid years. Now we were going into an era of democracy... and I believed that I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athol-fugard/my-life-had-been-defined-by-the-apartheid-years-now-we-were-going/) [Athol Fugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/athol-fugard/) > [If apartheid is removed, then the violence that is necessary to maintain it will be removed along with the pressures from apartheid which create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-tambo/if-apartheid-is-removed-then-the-violence-that-is-necessary-to/) [Oliver Tambo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-tambo/) > [I try not to get too political. But coming from South Africa, where apartheid was a huge problem, and there was lots of inequality,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-anderson/i-try-not-to-get-too-political-but-coming-from-south-africa-where/) [Kevin Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-anderson/) > [I grew up under Thatcher; the era of apartheid; the era of the poll tax; the era of riots. I remember Neil Kinnock was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-lammy/i-grew-up-under-thatcher-the-era-of-apartheid-the-era-of-the-poll-tax/) [David Lammy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-lammy/) > [When I talk about the end of apartheid, I prefer not to claim the honor that I have ended it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-w-de-klerk/when-i-talk-about-the-end-of-apartheid-i-prefer-not-to-claim-the/) [F. W. de Klerk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-w-de-klerk/) > [ We \[ with Brian Mulroney and Rajiv Gandhi\] went to the meeting in Canada \[the 1987 Vancouver CHOGM\] and I said to them there… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hawke/we-with-brian-mulroney-and-rajiv-gandhi-went-to-the-meeting-in-canada/) [Bob Hawke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hawke/) > [My time in prison only deepened my resolve against apartheid. Even while I was in prison, I fought against it, teaching my cellmates about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/my-time-in-prison-only-deepened-my-resolve-against-apartheid-even/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [But I think I'm on track to do something even bigger. I liberate minds with my music. That's more important than liberating a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/but-i-think-i-m-on-track-to-do-something-even-bigger-i-liberate-minds/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [The mistake the apartheid government made was they gave the black people nothing, so they had nothing to lose. But now a lot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilbur-smith/the-mistake-the-apartheid-government-made-was-they-gave-the-black/) [Wilbur Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilbur-smith/) > [HEAVEN: The big apartheid in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-appleman/heaven-the-big-apartheid-in-the-sky/) [Philip Appleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-appleman/) > [I have no doubt that in the future, the laws that criminalize human love and commitment will look the way the apartheid laws do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/desmond-tutu/i-have-no-doubt-that-in-the-future-the-laws-that-criminalize-human/) [Desmond Tutu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/desmond-tutu/) > [My life had been defined by the apartheid years. Now we were going into an era of democracy... and I believed that I didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/athol-fugard/my-life-had-been-defined-by-the-apartheid-years-now-we-were-going-2/) [Athol Fugard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/athol-fugard/) > [The violence associated with the A.N.C. is minimal, infinitesimal next to the violence of the apartheid regime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-tambo/the-violence-associated-with-the-a-n-c-is-minimal-infinitesimal-next/) [Oliver Tambo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-tambo/) > [Imagine if your kids had to carry a ladder to climb an apartheid wall to get to school everyday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-suleiman/imagine-if-your-kids-had-to-carry-a-ladder-to-climb-an-apartheid-wall/) [Omar Suleiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-suleiman/) > [The private schools and the independent schools like Oprah's are really doing well because they've got the best of everything but it certainly puts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlayne-hunter-gault/the-private-schools-and-the-independent-schools-like-oprah-s-are/) [Charlayne Hunter-Gault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlayne-hunter-gault/) [Browse all 299 Apartheid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/apartheid/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Now, myself, I'm not a pacifist at all. 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