--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No man can sit down and withhold his…" description: "\"No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence.\" — Woodrow Wilson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/woodrow-wilson-534_acquiescence_no-man-can-sit-down-and-withhold-his-han_1184386.png" --- # No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the… ![“No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence.” quote by Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/woodrow-wilson-534_acquiescence_no-man-can-sit-down-and-withhold-his-han_1184386.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/woodrow-wilson-534_acquiescence_no-man-can-sit-down-and-withhold-his-han_1184386.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/woodrow-wilson-534_acquiescence_no-man-can-sit-down-and-withhold-his-han_1184386.png) > “No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence.” [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocates active resistance to injustice rather than passive acceptance for peace. **In simple terms:** Fight wrong to achieve peace. Key Takeaway Take action against injustice. Themes justice peace activism Mood determined serious Type political inspirational When to use this quote - political activism - human rights advocacy - community organizing Key Concepts moral duty civic responsibility Questions to Reflect On - What injustices are you tolerating? - How can you act responsibly? A Different Perspective Passive acquiescence may lead to ongoing conflict. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acquiescence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquiescence/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Patriotic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patriotic/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Warfare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/warfare/) ## Related quotes > [When you speak, speak the truth; perform when you promise; discharge your trust... Withhold your hands from striking, and from taking that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abdul-kalam/when-you-speak-speak-the-truth-perform-when-you-promise-discharge/) [Abdul Kalam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abdul-kalam/) > [Nothing is wrong with peace and love. It is all the more regrettable that so many of Christ's followers seem to disagree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/nothing-is-wrong-with-peace-and-love-it-is-all-the-more-regrettable/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [Warmakers are often wrong. ... Peace advocates are sometimes right, especially when their ideas are not only morally sound but politically realistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cortright/warmakers-are-often-wrong-peace-advocates-are-sometimes-right/) [David Cortright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cortright/) > [I can imagine no greater disservice to the country than to establish a system of censorship that would deny to the people of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/i-can-imagine-no-greater-disservice-to-the-country-than-to-establish/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Some Americans need hyphens in their names, because only part of them has come over; but when the whole man has come over, heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/some-americans-need-hyphens-in-their-names-because-only-part-of-them-2/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [“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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [ \[The purpose of a written constitution is\] 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 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/) > [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/) > [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 Woodrow Wilson > [If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if fifteen minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/if-i-am-to-speak-ten-minutes-i-need-a-week-for-preparation-if-fifteen/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [There is here a great melting pot in which we must compound a precious metal. That metal is the metal of nationality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/there-is-here-a-great-melting-pot-in-which-we-must-compound-a/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [One cannot pay the price of self-respect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/one-cannot-pay-the-price-of-self-respect/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [I would rather lose in a cause that will some day win, than win in a cause that will some day lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/i-would-rather-lose-in-a-cause-that-will-some-day-win-than-win-in-a/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [I have received delegations of working men who, apparently speaking with the utmost sincerity, have declared that they would regard it as a genuine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/i-have-received-delegations-of-working-men-who-apparently-speaking/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Absolute identity with one's cause is the first and great condition of successful leadership.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/absolute-identity-with-one-s-cause-is-the-first-and-great-condition/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [America cannot be an ostrich with its head in the sand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/america-cannot-be-an-ostrich-with-its-head-in-the-sand/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [...We are intensely proud of their noble record and are glad to have had the whole world see how irresistible they are in their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/we-are-intensely-proud-of-their-noble-record-and-are-glad-to-have-had/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [ The facts of the case will always have the better of \[an\] argument. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-facts-of-the-case-will-always-have-the-better-of-an-argument/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [The greatest embarrassment of my political career has been that active duties seem to deprive me of time for careful investigation. I seem almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-greatest-embarrassment-of-my-political-career-has-been-that/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Some Americans need hyphens in their names because only part of them has come over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/some-americans-need-hyphens-in-their-names-because-only-part-of-them/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [The history of liberty is the history of limitations on the power of government, not the increase of it. When we resist, therefore, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-history-of-liberty-is-the-history-of-limitations-on-the-power-of/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [When I think of the flag… I see alternate strips of parchment upon which are written the rights of liberty and justice, and stripes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/when-i-think-of-the-flag-i-see-alternate-strips-of-parchment-upon/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if an hour, I am ready now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/if-i-am-to-speak-ten-minutes-i-need-a-week-for-preparation-if-an-hour/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [Energy in a nation is like sap in a tree; it rises from bottom up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/energy-in-a-nation-is-like-sap-in-a-tree-it-rises-from-bottom-up/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) [Explore all 492 Woodrow Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) ## 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": "No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Woodrow Wilson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/no-man-can-sit-down-and-withhold-his-hands-from-the-warfare-against/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Acquiescence" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/no-man-can-sit-down-and-withhold-his-hands-from-the-warfare-against/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/woodrow-wilson-534_acquiescence_no-man-can-sit-down-and-withhold-his-han_1184386.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/woodrow-wilson-534_acquiescence_no-man-can-sit-down-and-withhold-his-han_1184386.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5b/woodrow-wilson-534_acquiescence_no-man-can-sit-down-and-withhold-his-han_1184386.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No man can sit down and withhold his hands from the warfare against wrong and get peace from his acquiescence.” — Woodrow Wilson", "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": "Woodrow Wilson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "No man can sit down and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/no-man-can-sit-down-and-withhold-his-hands-from-the-warfare-against/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/no-man-can-sit-down-and-withhold-his-hands-from-the-warfare-against/#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 } } ] } ```