If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence. If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.
Interpretation
True societal change requires non-violent methods and inclusivity in our actions.
This quote by Bayard Rustin emphasizes the importance of adopting peaceful and fair practices in the pursuit of societal goals. It suggests that in order to create a society characterized by peace, equality, and democracy, the means employed to achieve these ideals must align with the desired outcomes, highlighting the necessity of non-discrimination and non-violence in the process of societal transformation.
In practice
In a speech about community building, one might say this quote to emphasize the importance of peaceful actions.
Twenty-five, 30 years ago, the barometer of human rights in the United States were black people. That is no longer true. The barometer for judging the character of people in regard to human rights is now those who consider themselves gay, homosexual, lesbian.
God does not require us to achieve any of the good tasks that humanity must pursue. What God requires of us is that we not stop trying.
If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.
My activism did not spring from being black...The racial injustice that was present in this country during my youth was a challenge to my belief in the oneness of the human family.
I am an opponent of war and of war preparations and an opponent of universal military training and conscription; but entirely apart from that issue, I hold that segregation in any part of the body politic is an act of slavery and an act of war.
The proof that one truly believes is in action.
If we did not bring to the examinations of our instincts a knowledge of their comparative dignity we could never learn it from them.
Part of the function of memory is to forget; the omni-retentive mind will break down and produce at best an idiot savant who can recite a telephone book, and at worst a person to whom every grudge and slight is as yesterday's.
In India we celebrate the commonality of major differences; we are a land of belonging rather than of blood.
In an oppressive society the truth-telling nature of literature is of a different order, and sometimes valued more highly than other elements in a work of art.
True penitence condemns to silence. What a man is ready to recall he would be willing to repeat.
The individual is defined only by his relationship to the world and to other individuals; he exists only by transcending himself, and his freedom can be achieved only through the freedom of others. He justifies his existence by a movement which, like freedom, springs from his heart but which leads outside of himself.
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