Quotes from Cesar Chavez

Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well with others.

You are never strong enough that you don't need help.

Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak... Non-violence is hard work.

The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.

Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.

Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

Our lives are all that really belong to us, so it is how we use our lives that determines what kind of men we are

When the man who feeds the world by toiling in the fields is himself deprived of the basic rights of feeding, sheltering, and caring for his own family, the whole community of man is sick.

When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines the kind of men we are.

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

Without a union, the people are always cheated, and they are so innocent.

There is no such thing as defeat in non-violence.

Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak... Non-violence is hard work.

There is no substitute for hard work, 23 or 24 hours a day. And there is no substitute for patience and acceptance.

I am an organizer, not a union leader. A good organizer has to work hard and long. There are no shortcuts. You just keep talking to people, working with them, sharing, exchanging and they come along.

Concentration is inspiration. You must be completely overtaken by your work and your subject. Only then do all your influences and experience come up to the surface.

Just as Dr. King was a disciple of Gandhi and Christ, we must now be Dr. King's disciples. Dr. King challenged us to work for a greater humanity. I only hope that we are worthy of his challenge.

If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat…The people who give you their food give you their heart.

To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men!

When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines the kind of men we are.

If you're not frightened that you might fail, you'll never do the job. If you're frightened, you'll work like crazy.

We need, in a special way, to work twice as hard to help people understand that animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect them and love them as we love ourselves...

If we are full of hatred, we can't really do our work. Hatred saps all that strength and energy we need to plan.

There is no law for farm labor organizing, save the law of the jungle.