“Personally I do not resort to force — not even the force of law — to advance moral reforms. I prefer education, argument, persuasion, and above all the influence of example — of fashion. Until these resources are exhausted I would not think of force.”
On attempts at an alcohol prohibition amendment, in his Diary (9 October 1883)
Diary and Letters of Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1922 - 1926)
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Rutherford B. Hayes 70
American politician, 19th President of the United States (i… 1822–1893Related quotes
Polygamy and Female Circumcision Can Only Be Abolished Through Education, Not by Force. A Female Egyptian President - Not in the Near Future http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1399 March 2007
Source: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (1873-1874), Ch. 3 : The Distinction Between the Temporal and Spiritual Power
The Contemporary Review
Context: If we cannot by reason, by influence, by example, by strenuous effort, and by personal sacrifice, mend the bad places of civilization, we certainly cannot do it by force. Force is the very weakest and most treacherous of all human implements. The history of force is the history of the continuous crumbling away of every institution that has rested upon it. — The Contemporary Review, The Ethics of Dynamite (1894)
1860s, A Liberal Education and Where to Find It (1868)
“Men! When you cannot win an argument, you either run away or resort to force.”
Egwene al'Vere
(15 November 1990)
On the Priesthood http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf109/Page_41.html, Book II
Source: "Azerbaijani Leader, Restored To Power, Imposes Emergency Rule" in The Washington Post https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:epcCRJyvH3AJ:https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/05/15/azerbaijani-leader-restored-to-power-imposes-emergency-rule/c4a5d291-a743-4227-90db-54e0f9739b80/+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us (15 May 1992)
Liberty vs Socialism
Context: There is no moral argument that justifies using the coercive powers of government to force one person to bear the expense of taking care of another. If that person is too resolute in his refusal to do so, what is the case for imposing fines, imprisonment or death? You say, "Death! Aren't you exaggerating, Williams?" Say he tells the agents of Congress that he'll pay his share of the constitutionally mandated functions of government but refuse to pay the health costs of a sick obese person or a cyclist who becomes a vegetable, what do you think the likely course of events will be? First, he'd be threatened with fines, imprisonment or property confiscation. Refusal to give in to these government sanctions would ultimately lead to his being shot by the agents of Congress.