“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”
Ferdinand Foch (1851–1929) French soldier and military theorist
As quoted in The 32d Infantry Division in World War II (1956) by Harold Whittle Blakeley, p. 3
“the human mind… perhaps the most powerful weapon. second only to the "GUN"”
— Dril
[ Link to tweet https://twitter.com/dril/status/813966376327086080] <br class="br">Tweets by year, 2016
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Steve Biko (1946–1977) anti-apartheid activist in South Africa
Statement quoted in the Boston Globe (25 October 1977)
Context: Even today, we are still accused of racism. This is a mistake. We know that all interracial groups in South Africa are relationships in which whites are superior, blacks inferior. So as a prelude whites must be made to realize that they are only human, not superior. Same with blacks. They must be made to realize that they are also human, not inferior.
“The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.”
Steve Biko (1946–1977) anti-apartheid activist in South Africa
White Racism and Black Consciousness
I Write What I Like (1978)
Variant: The greatest weapon in the hand of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.
“Stories are the single most powerful weapon in a leader's arsenal.”
Howard Gardner (1943) American developmental psychologist
Howard Gardner, cited in: Richard L. Daft (2014), The Leadership Experience, p. 273
“The engine of the Panzer is a weapon just as the main-gun.”
Heinz Guderian (1888–1954) German general
Der Motor des Panzers ist ebenso seine Waffe wie die Kanone.
As quoted in Die Deutschen gepanzerten Truppen bis 1945 (1965) by Oskar Munzel, p. 159
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement
1960s, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
Context: As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery. No Lincolnian emancipation proclamation or Johnsonian civil rights bill can totally bring this kind of freedom. The negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive manhood his own emancipation proclamation. And, with a spirit straining toward true self-esteem, the Negro must boldly throw off the manacles of self-abegnation and say to himself and to the world, "I am somebody. I am a person. I am a man with dignity and honor. I have a rich and noble history, however painful and exploited that history has been. Yes, I was a slave through my foreparents, and now I’m not ashamed of that. I'm ashamed of the people who were so sinful to make me a slave." Yes, yes, we must stand up and say, "I'm black, but I'm black and beautiful." This, this self-affirmation is the black man's need, made compelling by the white man's crimes against him.
“Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world”
Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) President of South Africa, anti-apartheid activist
" Lighting your way to a better future : Speech delivered by Mr N R Mandela at launch of Mindset Network http://db.nelsonmandela.org/speeches/pub_view.asp?pg=item&ItemID=NMS909&txtstr=education%20is%20the%20most%20powerful," July 16, 2003 at db.nelsonmandela.org. ; Cited in: Nelson Mandela, S. K. Hatang, Sahm Venter (2012) Notes to the Future: Words of Wisdom. p. 101. <br class="br">2000s <br class="br">Context: Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world and is a powerful part of that world changing arsenal.
William H. McNeill (1917–2016) Canadian historian
Source: Keeping Together in Time (1995), Ch. 4: Religious Ceremonies.