Barbara Deming (July 23, 1917 – August 2, 1984) was an American feminist and advocate of nonviolent social change. Read full biography of Barbara Deming →
Vengeance is not the point; change is. But the trouble is that in most people's minds the thought of victory and the thought of punishing the... →
The longer we listen to one another - with real attention - the more commonality we will find in all our lives. That is, if we are careful to... →
Punishment cannot heal spirits, can only break them.
Nonviolent action does not have to get others to be nice. It can in effect force them to consult their consciences.
I think the only choice that will enable us to hold to our vision... is one that abandons the concept of naming enemies and adopts a concept familiar... →
Our task, of course, is to transmute the anger that is affliction into the anger that is determination to bring about change. I think, in fact, that... →
The free man must be born before freedom can be won, and the brotherly man must be born before full brotherhood can be won. It will come into being... →
To resort to power one need not be violent, and to speak to conscience one need not be meek. The most effective action both resorts to power and... →
We believe, in fact, that the one act of respect has little force unless matched by the other - in balance with it... The acting out of that dual... →
Think first of the action that is right to take, think later about coping with one's fears.
All prisons that have existed in our society to date put people away as no human being should ever be put away.
This is the heart of my argument: We can put more pressure on the antagonist for whom we show human concern.
Of course it can be said of jails, too, that they try - by punishing the troublesome - to deter others. No doubt, in certain instances this... →
Barbara Deming (July 23, 1917 – August 2, 1984) was an American feminist and advocate of nonviolent social change.