--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Non-violence should never be used as a…" description: "\"Non-violence should never be used as a shield for cowardice. It is a weapon for the brave.\" — Mahatma Gandhi" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/mahatma-gandhi-23_brave_non-violence-should-never-be-used-as-a-s_1403877.jpg" --- # Non-violence should never be used as a shield for… ![“Non-violence should never be used as a shield for cowardice. It is a weapon for the brave.” quote by Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/mahatma-gandhi-23_brave_non-violence-should-never-be-used-as-a-s_1403877.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/mahatma-gandhi-23_brave_non-violence-should-never-be-used-as-a-s_1403877.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/858/mahatma-gandhi-23_brave_non-violence-should-never-be-used-as-a-s_1403877.jpg) > “Non-violence should never be used as a shield for cowardice. It is a weapon for the brave.” [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Non‑violence is not a sign of weakness; it is a courageous stance that confronts injustice directly. **In simple terms:** Courageous non‑violence confronts injustice. Key Takeaway Choose brave resistance over fearful avoidance. Themes courage non‑violence justice Mood determined inspirational Type ethical motivational When to use this quote - civil rights protests - personal moral dilemmas - activism - conflict resolution Key Concepts ethical philosophy moral strength Questions to Reflect On - How can you demonstrate bravery through non‑violent actions? - What fears must you confront to act courageously? A Different Perspective Non‑violence can be misinterpreted as passivity, reducing its impact. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brave/) [Courage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courage/) [Cowardice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice/) [Cowardice Weapon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cowardice-weapon-4927750/) [Non violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/non-violence/) [Shield Cowardice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shield-cowardice-4927749/) [Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shields/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/used/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) [Violence Used](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence-used-1326451/) [Weapons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weapons/) ## Related quotes > [I do believe that where there is a choice between cowardice and non-violence I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-believe-that-where-there-is-a-choice-between-cowardice-and-non/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Seeing the similarity to oneself, one should not use violence or have it used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gautama-buddha/seeing-the-similarity-to-oneself-one-should-not-use-violence-or-have/) [Gautama Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gautama-buddha/) > [ I think violence is part of the struggle against oppression. If something bad happens to these people \[animal researchers\], it will discourage others. It… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-vlasak/i-think-violence-is-part-of-the-struggle-against-oppression-if/) [Jerry Vlasak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-vlasak/) > [The efforts of Black Lives Matter to bring attention to the all-too-frequent instances of unjustified violence being used by policemen may not be paying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viggo-mortensen/the-efforts-of-black-lives-matter-to-bring-attention-to-the-all-too/) [Viggo Mortensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viggo-mortensen/) > [Watching violence in movies or in TV programs stimulates the spectators to imitate what they see much more than if seen live or on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-spielberg/watching-violence-in-movies-or-in-tv-programs-stimulates-the/) [Steven Spielberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-spielberg/) > [We live in a violent world, but since the success of films like Pulp Fiction, it seems every movie has some violence in it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-portman/we-live-in-a-violent-world-but-since-the-success-of-films-like-pulp/) [Natalie Portman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-portman/) > [Violence is used to portray what happens in a film. It only helps portray the actors and what they do. I think it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-lloyd/violence-is-used-to-portray-what-happens-in-a-film-it-only-helps/) [Jake Lloyd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-lloyd/) > [ “Moreover \[pacifists\] do not as a rule condemn violence as such, but only violence used in defence of western countries” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/moreover-pacifists-do-not-as-a-rule-condemn-violence-as-such-but-only/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Violence is used to suppress a people in a most blatantly crude way. We can historicize and contextualize it. We can analyze the Algerian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-gibson/violence-is-used-to-suppress-a-people-in-a-most-blatantly-crude-way/) [Nigel Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-gibson/) > [By what standard of morality can the violence used by a slave to break his chains be considered the same as the violence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-rodney/by-what-standard-of-morality-can-the-violence-used-by-a-slave-to/) [Walter Rodney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-rodney/) > [He who trusts has never yet lost in the world. A suspicious man is lost to himself and the eworld… Suspicion is of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/he-who-trusts-has-never-yet-lost-in-the-world-a-suspicious-man-is/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Mental violence has no potency and injures only the person whose thoughts are violent. It is otherwise with mental non-violence. It has potency which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/mental-violence-has-no-potency-and-injures-only-the-person-whose/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Non-violence ... is the only thing that the atom bomb cannot destroy. I did not move a muscle when I first heard that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/non-violence-is-the-only-thing-that-the-atom-bomb-cannot-destroy-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Violent means will give violent swaraj. That would be a menace to the world and to India herself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/violent-means-will-give-violent-swaraj-that-would-be-a-menace-to-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Though I cannot claim to be a Christian in the sectarian sense, the example of Jesus suffering is a factor in the composition of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/though-i-cannot-claim-to-be-a-christian-in-the-sectarian-sense-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More by Mahatma Gandhi > [I do not want to live at the cost of the life even of a snake. I should let him bite me to death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-to-live-at-the-cost-of-the-life-even-of-a-snake-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Devotion required by the Gita is no soft-hearted effusiveness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/devotion-required-by-the-gita-is-no-soft-hearted-effusiveness/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [No nation being under another nation can accept gifts, and kick at the responsibility attached to those gifts, imposed by the conquering nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/no-nation-being-under-another-nation-can-accept-gifts-and-kick-at-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [So long as we fear the outside world, we must cease to think of Swaraj.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/so-long-as-we-fear-the-outside-world-we-must-cease-to-think-of-swaraj/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I do not want a kingdom, or heaven; what I want is to remove the trouble of the oppressed, the poor, and the needy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-do-not-want-a-kingdom-or-heaven-what-i-want-is-to-remove-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Religions are not for separating men from one another, they are meant to bind them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/religions-are-not-for-separating-men-from-one-another-they-are-meant/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I hold flesh-food to be unsuited to our species. We err in copying the lower animal world if we are superior to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-hold-flesh-food-to-be-unsuited-to-our-species-we-err-in-copying-the/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“It was only in South Africa that I got over this shyness, though I never completely overcame it. It was impossible for me to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/it-was-only-in-south-africa-that-i-got-over-this-shyness-though-i/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [“Where there is life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/where-there-is-life/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [If it was wrong to seek God in a stone, how was it right to seek Him in a book called the Gita, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/if-it-was-wrong-to-seek-god-in-a-stone-how-was-it-right-to-seek-him/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [The spirit of democracy cannot be established in the midst of terrorism, whether governmental or popular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/the-spirit-of-democracy-cannot-be-established-in-the-midst-of/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Champions are made from something they have deep inside of them-a desire, a dream, a vison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/champions-are-made-from-something-they-have-deep-inside-of-them-a/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [My motto is "Unite now, today if you can; fight if you must. But in every case avoid British intervention."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/my-motto-is-unite-now-today-if-you-can-fight-if-you-must-but-in-every/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [I have no disciples, being myself an aspirant after discipleship and in search of a guru.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/i-have-no-disciples-being-myself-an-aspirant-after-discipleship-and/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [Man becomes not the lord and master of all creation but he is its servant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-becomes-not-the-lord-and-master-of-all-creation-but-he-is-its/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) [Explore all 3,284 Mahatma Gandhi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More Brave quotes > [In the current climate, things that are true, brave human stories become political.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/in-the-current-climate-things-that-are-true-brave-human-stories/) [Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/) > [If You Love Someone, Be Brave Enough To Tell Them., Otherwise Be Brave Enough To Watch Them To Be Loved By Someone Else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bilal-zahoor/if-you-love-someone-be-brave-enough-to-tell-them-otherwise-be-brave/) [Bilal Zahoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bilal-zahoor/) > [Be convinced that to be happy means to be free and that to be free means to be brave. Therefore do not take lightly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thucydides/be-convinced-that-to-be-happy-means-to-be-free-and-that-to-be-free/) [Thucydides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thucydides/) > [It's always brave to be yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/liu-yifei/it-s-always-brave-to-be-yourself/) [Liu Yifei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/liu-yifei/) > [“Victory is for the fucking brave, not the timid and excuse-riddled weak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zakk-wylde/victory-is-for-the-fucking-brave-not-the-timid-and-excuse-riddled-weak/) [Zakk Wylde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zakk-wylde/) > [I'm very proud of 'Every Girl's a Super Girl.' I want all girls to know that no matter what size, color, or shape, whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jojo-siwa/i-m-very-proud-of-every-girl-s-a-super-girl-i-want-all-girls-to-know/) [JoJo Siwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jojo-siwa/) > [And I read the moral--A brave endeavour To do thy duty, whate'er its worth, Is better than life with love forever, And love is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-jeffrey-roche/and-i-read-the-moral-a-brave-endeavour-to-do-thy-duty-whate-er-its/) [James Jeffrey Roche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-jeffrey-roche/) > [I admire machinery as much is any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-admire-machinery-as-much-is-any-man-and-am-as-thankful-to-it-as-any/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [You know what really made me sick? I was in Washington, D.C. at another time reading in a paper where the U.S. gives Byron…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/you-know-what-really-made-me-sick-i-was-in-washington-d-c-at-another/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [To be able to live and train in Iraq under these circumstances you need to be brave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-be-able-to-live-and-train-in-iraq-under-these-circumstances-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There's a fallacy with stand up comedy, which is, people come up to comedians, and they go, 'You say what I think but I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jefferies/there-s-a-fallacy-with-stand-up-comedy-which-is-people-come-up-to/) [Jim Jefferies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jefferies/) > [Fortune helps the brave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence/fortune-helps-the-brave/) [Terence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence/) > [“A ‘good’ father will tenderly cultivate his children. But a ‘good’ father who is also a ‘brave’ father will let the children without cultivate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/a-good-father-will-tenderly-cultivate-his-children-but-a-good-father/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [And is it selfish of me to crave victory, or is it brave?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veronica-roth/and-is-it-selfish-of-me-to-crave-victory-or-is-it-brave/) [Veronica Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veronica-roth/) > [THE British are brave people. They can face anything, except reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-mikes/the-british-are-brave-people-they-can-face-anything-except-reality/) [George Mikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-mikes/) [Browse all 3,314 Brave quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brave/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Non-violence should never be used as a shield for cowardice. 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