--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Civil disobedience, as I put it to the…" description: "\"“Civil disobedience, as I put it to the audience, was not the problem, despite the warnings of some that it threatened social stability, that it led to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/howard-zinn-576_acquiescence_civil-disobedience-as-i-put-it-to-the-au_1483977.jpg" --- # Civil disobedience, as I put it to the audience, was not… ![“Civil disobedience, as I put it to the audience, was not the problem, despite the warnings of some that it threatened social stability, that it led to anarchy. The greatest danger, I argued, was civil obedience, the submission of individual conscience to governmental authority. Such obedience led…” quote by Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/howard-zinn-576_acquiescence_civil-disobedience-as-i-put-it-to-the-au_1483977.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/howard-zinn-576_acquiescence_civil-disobedience-as-i-put-it-to-the-au_1483977.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/howard-zinn-576_acquiescence_civil-disobedience-as-i-put-it-to-the-au_1483977.jpg) > ““Civil disobedience, as I put it to the audience, was not the problem, despite the warnings of some that it threatened social stability, that it led to anarchy. The greatest danger, I argued, was civil obedience, the submission of individual conscience to governmental authority. Such obedience led to the horrors we saw in totalitarian states, and in liberal states it led to the public's acceptance of war whenever the so-called democratic government decided on it... In such a world, the rule of law maintains things as they are. Therefore, to begin the process of change, to stop a war, to establish justice, it may be necessary to break the law, to commit acts of civil disobedience, as Southern black did, as antiwar protesters did.”” [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Civil disobedience is justified when obeying unjust laws perpetuates oppression; breaking the law can spark necessary social change. **In simple terms:** Breaking unjust laws can be moral. Key Takeaway Question unjust laws when they harm justice. Themes justice obedience political action civil rights nonviolence Mood defiant hopeful Type philosophical activist When to use this quote - protests - war resistance - human rights campaigns - policy reform Key Concepts Moral philosophy political theory social movements Questions to Reflect On - When have you witnessed law upholding injustice? - What risks accompany breaking the law for a cause? A Different Perspective Civil obedience can also sustain injustice; nonviolent tactics may be suppressed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acquiescence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquiescence/) [Argued Civil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argued-civil-5415326/) [Civil disobedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-disobedience/) [Civil Obedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-obedience-1596265/) [Disobedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disobedience/) [Disobedience Audience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disobedience-audience-5415325/) [Disobedience Southern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disobedience-southern-5415324/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Oppression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oppression/) [Rule of law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rule-of-law/) ## Related quotes > [Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/civil-disobedience-is-not-our-problem-our-problem-is-civil-obedience-3/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/civil-disobedience-is-not-our-problem-our-problem-is-civil-obedience/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [The problem in this world is not civil disobedience...th e problem in this world is civil obedience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-problem-in-this-world-is-not-civil-disobedience-th-e-problem-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/civil-disobedience-is-not-our-problem-our-problem-is-civil-obedience-2/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Our problem is civil obedience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-damon/our-problem-is-civil-obedience/) [Matt Damon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-damon/) > [Through Khadi we teach the people the art of civil obedience to an institution which they have built up for themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/through-khadi-we-teach-the-people-the-art-of-civil-obedience-to-an/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“The governing authorities are understood to be ordained by God. We are not permitted to obey only those authorities that we consider to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul-2/the-governing-authorities-are-understood-to-be-ordained-by-god-we-are/) [R.C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul-2/) > [“The American Anti-Slavery Society, on the other hand, said the war was “waged solely for the detestable and horrible purpose of extending and perpetuating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-american-anti-slavery-society-on-the-other-hand-said-the-war-was/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/protest-beyond-the-law-is-not-a-departure-from-democracy-it-is-2/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Civil disobedience is not something outside the realm of democracy. Democracy requires civil disobedience. Without civil disobedience democracy does not exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/civil-disobedience-is-not-something-outside-the-realm-of-democracy/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“The challenge remains. On the other side are formidable forces: money, political power, the major media. On our side are the people of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-challenge-remains-on-the-other-side-are-formidable-forces-money/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“But there is also (though much of this is kept from us, to keep us intimidated and without hope) the bubbling of change under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/but-there-is-also-though-much-of-this-is-kept-from-us-to-keep-us/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Throughout American history, the political leaders have always exhorted the American people to be nice and quiet and leave things to them. But when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/throughout-american-history-the-political-leaders-have-always/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [There is civil disobedience against the military machine, protest against police brutality directed especially at people of color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/there-is-civil-disobedience-against-the-military-machine-protest/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [All that the Devil asks is acquiescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-massie/all-that-the-devil-asks-is-acquiescence/) [Suzanne Massie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-massie/) ## More by Howard Zinn > [“A black man, Benjamin Banneker, who taught himself mathematics and astronomy, predicted accurately a solar eclipse, and was appointed to plan the new city…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/a-black-man-benjamin-banneker-who-taught-himself-mathematics-and/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/there-is-no-flag-large-enough-to-cover-the-shame-of-killing-innocent/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“a good education is a synthesis of book learning and involvement in social action, because each enrich the other. The accumulation of knowledge, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/a-good-education-is-a-synthesis-of-book-learning-and-involvement-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [The mountain of history books under which we all stand leans so heavily in the other direction-so tremblingly respectful of states and statesmen and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/the-mountain-of-history-books-under-which-we-all-stand-leans-so/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Let's face a historical truth: we have never had a "free market", we have always had government intervention in the economy, and indeed that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/let-s-face-a-historical-truth-we-have-never-had-a-free-market-we-have/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [I can UNDERSTAND pessimism, but I don't BELIEVE in it. It's not simply a matter of faith, but of historical EVIDENCE. Not overwhelming evidence,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/i-can-understand-pessimism-but-i-don-t-believe-in-it-it-s-not-simply/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it. It is a corrective to the sluggishness of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/protest-beyond-the-law-is-not-a-departure-from-democracy-it-is/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Now I have been studying very closely what happens every day in the courts in Boston, Massachusetts. You would be astounded--maybe you wouldn't, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/now-i-have-been-studying-very-closely-what-happens-every-day-in-the/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [They were not mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, they were absent in the Constitution and they were invisible in the new political democracy.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/they-were-not-mentioned-in-the-declaration-of-independence-they-were/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Sexual purity was to be the special virtue of a woman. It was assumed that men, as a matter of biological nature, would sin,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/sexual-purity-was-to-be-the-special-virtue-of-a-woman-it-was-assumed/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“Middle-class Americans might be invited to join a new elite by attacks against the corruption of the established rich. The New Yorker Cadwallader Colden,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/middle-class-americans-might-be-invited-to-join-a-new-elite-by/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/if-those-in-charge-of-our-society-politicians-corporate-executives/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [We were not born critical of existing society. There was a moment in our lives (or a month, or a year) when certain facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/we-were-not-born-critical-of-existing-society-there-was-a-moment-in/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Behind the deceptive words designed to entice people into supporting violence -- words like democracy, freedom, self-defense, national security -- there is the reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/behind-the-deceptive-words-designed-to-entice-people-into-supporting/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“George Washington had turned down the requests of blacks, seeking freedom, to fight in the Revolutionary army. So when the British military commander in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/george-washington-had-turned-down-the-requests-of-blacks-seeking/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) [Explore all 461 Howard Zinn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) ## More Acquiescence quotes > [All that the Devil asks is acquiescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-massie/all-that-the-devil-asks-is-acquiescence/) [Suzanne Massie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-massie/) > [What subsists to-day by violence continues to-morrow by acquiescence and is perpetuated by tradition; till at last the hoary abuse shakes the gray hairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/what-subsists-to-day-by-violence-continues-to-morrow-by-acquiescence/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [“The submission which you demand of yourself to the general fact of evil in the world, your apparent acquiescence in it, is here nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-submission-which-you-demand-of-yourself-to-the-general-fact-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ \[The purpose of a written constitution is\] to bind up the several branches of government by certain laws, which, when they transgress, their acts… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-purpose-of-a-written-constitution-is-to-bind-up-the-several/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The employers cannot carry on industry nor accumulate profits if they have not got the good will of the workers or their acquiescence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-larkin/the-employers-cannot-carry-on-industry-nor-accumulate-profits-if-they/) [James Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-larkin/) > [Suicide is belated acquiescence in the opinion of one's wife's relatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/suicide-is-belated-acquiescence-in-the-opinion-of-one-s-wife-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ladies and gentlemen, even my own staff challenges me. When I issue edicts, commands, orders, ideas, you would think that there would be overwhelming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/ladies-and-gentlemen-even-my-own-staff-challenges-me-when-i-issue/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [I'm terrified of passive acquiescence. I live in intensity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/i-m-terrified-of-passive-acquiescence-i-live-in-intensity/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Neither acquiescence in skepticism nor acquiescence in dogma is what education should produce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/neither-acquiescence-in-skepticism-nor-acquiescence-in-dogma-is-what/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“It can come a bit hard sometimes to see one's own unique, heroic life pinned so pitilessly to a wall. At other times it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/it-can-come-a-bit-hard-sometimes-to-see-one-s-own-unique-heroic-life/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [Establish the eternal truth that acquiescence under insult is not the way to escape war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/establish-the-eternal-truth-that-acquiescence-under-insult-is-not-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The ways of Providence being inscrutable, and the justice of it not to be scanned by the shallow eye of humanity, nor to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-ways-of-providence-being-inscrutable-and-the-justice-of-it-not-to/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [Evil is near. Sometimes late at night the air grows strongly clammy and cold around me. I feel it brushing me. All that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-massie/evil-is-near-sometimes-late-at-night-the-air-grows-strongly-clammy/) [Suzanne Massie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-massie/) > [“All the devil asks is acquiescence; not conflict, not struggle. Acquiescence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-massie/all-the-devil-asks-is-acquiescence-not-conflict-not-struggle/) [Suzanne Massie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-massie/) > [There is no such thing as real happiness in life. The justest definition that was ever given of it was "a tranquil acquiescence under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/there-is-no-such-thing-as-real-happiness-in-life-the-justest/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) [Browse all 69 Acquiescence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquiescence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Civil disobedience, as I put it to the audience, was not the problem, despite the warnings of some that it threatened social stability, that it led to anarchy. The greatest danger, I argued, was civil obedience, the submission of individual conscience to governmental authority. Such obedience led to the horrors we saw in totalitarian states, and in liberal states it led to the public's acceptance of war whenever the so-called democratic government decided on it... In such a world, the rule of law maintains things as they are. Therefore, to begin the process of change, to stop a war, to establish justice, it may be necessary to break the law, to commit acts of civil disobedience, as Southern black did, as antiwar protesters did.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Howard Zinn" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/civil-disobedience-as-i-put-it-to-the-audience-was-not-the-problem/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Acquiescence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/civil-disobedience-as-i-put-it-to-the-audience-was-not-the-problem/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/howard-zinn-576_acquiescence_civil-disobedience-as-i-put-it-to-the-au_1483977.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/howard-zinn-576_acquiescence_civil-disobedience-as-i-put-it-to-the-au_1483977.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/howard-zinn-576_acquiescence_civil-disobedience-as-i-put-it-to-the-au_1483977.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Civil disobedience, as I put it to the audience, was not the problem, despite the warnings of some that it…” — Howard Zinn", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Howard Zinn", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Civil disobedience, as I put it...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/civil-disobedience-as-i-put-it-to-the-audience-was-not-the-problem/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/civil-disobedience-as-i-put-it-to-the-audience-was-not-the-problem/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```