Michel Foucault
Philosopher, Social Theorist
"Where there is power, there is resistance."
Resistance quotes
Resistance
328 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Gautama Buddha
Spiritual Teacher
"Change is never painful, only the resistance to change is painful"
Bell Hooks
Author, Feminist, Social Activist
"[O]ne of the most vital ways we sustain ourselves is by building communities of resistance, places where we know we are not alone."
Assata Shakur
Activist
"Where there is oppression, there will be resistance."
Edward Said
Literary Theorist, Critic, and Author
"Humanism is the only - I would go so far as saying the final- resistance we have against the inhuman practices and injustices that disfigure human history."
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Resistance quotes (page 1 of 17)
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"True resistance begins with people confronting pain... and wanting to do something to change it."
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"Of all the frictional resistances, the one that most retards human movement is ignorance."
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"The intensity of the pain depends on the degree of resistance to the present moment."
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"Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art - the art of words."
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"There will be no recognition of Israel and there will be no security for the occupation and colonization forces. Resistance will remain our strategic option."
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"The simplest truths often meet the sternest resistance and are slowest in getting general acceptance."
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"I find that all my thoughts circle around God like the planets around the sun, and are as irresistibly attracted by Him. I would feel it to be the grossest sin if I were to oppose any resistance to this force."
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"The history of liberty is a history of resistance."
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"The process of liberation brings with it a profound conflict. Having the project be clear is not enough. What is necessary is a spirituality of resistance and of renewed hope to turn ever back to the struggle in the face of the defeats of the oppressed."
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"Surrender is the inner transition from resistance to acceptance, from no to yes."
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"Identity is not inherent. It is shaped by circumstance and sensitivity and resistance to self-pity."
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"Manga is virtual. Manga is sentiment. Manga is resistance. Manga is bizarre. Manga is pathos. Manga is destruction. Manga is arrogance. Manga is love. Manga is kitsch. Manga is sense of wonder. Manga is … there is no conclusion yet."
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"I had a lot of resistance, and not just to fame. I was always conscious of not changing."
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"Be not discouraged. There is a future for you. . . . The resistance encountered now predicates hope. . ."
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"It is the obligation of every person who claims to oppose oppression to resist the oppressor by every means at his or her disposal. Not to engage in physical resistance, armed resistance to oppression, is to serve the interests of the oppressor; no more, no less. There are no exceptions to the rule, no easy out."
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"I encourage you to be a person who is not afraid of responsibility. In meeting resistance you will build your strength. If you only do what is easy, you will always remain weak."
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"Resistance keeps you stuck. Surrender immediately opens you to the greater intelligence that is vaster than the human mind, and it can then express itself through you. So through surrender often you find circumstances changing."
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"The religion most prevalent in our northern colonies is a refinement on the principles of resistance: it is the dissidence of dissent, and the protestantism of the Protestant religion."
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"The state in which the ideas existed before being made conscious is called by us repression, and we assert that the force which instituted the repression and maintains it is perceived as resistance during the work of analysis."
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"Resistance to unwanted circumstances has the power to keep those circumstances alive and well for a very long time."
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