Self-defense is Nature's eldest law. — John Dryden
Self-defense is not just a set of techniques; it’s a state of mind, and it begins with the belief that you are worth defending. — Rorion Gracie
The strength to kill is not essential for self-defence; one ought to have the strength to die. — Mahatma Gandhi
Self defense is a primary law of nature, which no subsequent law of society can abolish; the immediate gift of the Creator, obliges everyone to resist the first approaches of tyranny. — Elbridge Gerry
I'm non-violent offensively. I'm violent to defend myself. — Alex Jones
The best form of self defense is to become invisible...
If you can't do that learn Wing Chun! — Wong Shun Leung
I often say that sociology is a martial art, a means of self-defense. Basically, you use it to defend yourself, without having the right to use it for unfair attacks. — Pierre Bourdieu
Doesn't the fight for survival also justify swindle and theft? In self defence, anything goes. — Imelda Marcos
The best personal defense is an explosive counterattack. — Jeff Cooper
If our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Self-defence, self-confidence, discipline and self control. The values you learn are priceless. — Rickson Gracie
The right of self-defense never ceases. It is among the most sacred, and alike necessary to nations and to individuals. — James Monroe
Judo is a study of techniques with which you may kill if you wish to kill, injure if you wish to injure, subdue if you wish to subdue, and, when attacked, defend yourself — Kano Jigoro
[Self-defense is] justly called the primary law of nature, so it is not, neither can it be in fact, taken away by the laws of society. — William Blackstone
A real jiu-jitsu fighter does not go around beating people down. Our defense is made to neutralize aggression. — Helio Gracie
Short Self Defence Quotes
The best defense is a good offense. — Jack Dempsey
A fight is not won by one punch or kick. Either learn to endure or hire a bodyguard. — Bruce Lee
If you find yourself under lethal attack don't be kind. Be harsh. Be tough. Be ruthless. — Jeff Cooper
Attack is the secret of defense; defense is the planning of an attack. — Sun Tzu
Defend me from my friends, from my enemies I can defend myself. — German proverbs
Maturity is learning to walk away from people and situation that threaten your peace of mind, self respect, values, morals and self worth.
Self Defense Quotes
If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it. The felon does not fear the police, and he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore what he must be taught to fear is his victim. — Jeff Cooper
When a government betrays the people by amassing too much power and becoming tyrannical, the people have no choice but to exercise their original right of self-defense — to fight the government. — Alexander Hamilton
Oppressors can tyrannize only when they achieve a standing army, an enslaved press, and a disarmed populace. — James Madison
We are what we believe we are.
Karate is not a game. It is not a sport. It is not even a system of self-defense. Karate is half physical exercise and half spiritual. The karateist who has given the necessary years of exercise and meditation is a tranquil person. He is unafraid. He can even be calm in a burning building. — Mas Oyama
Those who beat their swords into plowshares usually end up plowing for those who kept their swords. — Benjamin Franklin
Even the lion protects himself against flies. — African Proverbs
The police and armed forces must prioritize safeguarding their lives, those of their companions and of honest citizens. The use of lethal force is authorized in self-defense or in defense of the lives of Salvadoreans. — Nayib Bukele
Your mind-set is your primary weapon — Jeff Cooper
Defence Quotes
I am determined to defend my rights and maintain my freedom or sell my life in the attempt. — Nathanael Greene
[Somali maritime violence] is a response to greedy Western nations, who invade and exploit Somalia's water resources illegally. It is not a piracy, it is self defence. It is defending the Somalia children's food. — Muammar al-Gaddafi
The best defence of peace is not power, but the removal of the causes of war, and international agreements which will put peace on a stronger foundation, than the terror of destruction. — Lester B. Pearson
I don't imagine Heads of Government would ever be able to say I'm not an economist therefore I can't take decisions on matters of the economy; I'm not a soldier I can't take decisions on matters of defence; I'm not an educationist so I can't take decisions about education. — Thabo Mbeki
Every time we witness an injustice and do not act, we train our character to be passive in its presence and thereby eventually lose all ability to defend ourselves and those we love. — Julian Assange
To come to know your enemy, first you must become his friend, and once you become his friend, all his defences come down. Then you can choose the most fitting method for his demise. — Ieyasu Tokugawa
A zeal for the defence of their country led these heroes to the scene of action, though with a few men to attack a powerful army of experienced warriors. — Daniel Boone
We will work with industrial or Dept. Of Defence sponsorship as long as we keep our principals of openness firm we're proud to work with the military, and they respect that in turn. — Charles Vest
Independence is never given to a people, it has to be earned; and, once earned, must be defended. — Chaim Weizmann
I believe I understand anti-Semitism which is a very complex movement. I see it as a Jew, but without hatred or fear. I recognize what is anti-Semitism is rude jesting, vulgar jealousy of métier, hereditary prejudice; but also what can be considered as in fact legitimate defence. — Theodor Herzl
Defend Yourself Quotes
It is impossible to call yourself a Christian and defend homosexuality. There is no justification or acceptance of homosexuality... Homosexuality means the death of society because homosexuals can recruit, but they cannot reproduce. — John Hagee
If someone speaks badly of you, do not defend yourself against the accusations, but reply; "you obviously don't know about my other vices, otherwise you would have mentioned these as well — Epictetus
Never complain, never explain. Resist the temptation to defend yourself or make excuses. — Brian Tracy
The goal of jiu-jitsu in self-defense isn't to take someone down to the ground - the goal in jiu-jitsu for self-defense is actually to be able to defend yourself on the ground, get up, and get away from an attacker. That's what the goal is. — Jocko Willink
If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: 'He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned.' — Epictetus
You also know you’re surrendered when you don’t react to criticism and rush to defend yourself. Surrendered hearts show up best in relationships. You don’t edge others out, you don’t demand your rights, and you aren’t self-serving when you’re surrendered. — Rick Warren
Endeavor to have always in your hand a pious book, that with this shield you may defend yourself against bad thoughts. — St. Jerome
Government: If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law. — Edward Abbey
If you defend, rebound and limit turnovers, you're going to put yourself in a position where you can win games — Stan Van Gundy
How to defend yourself against a banana — John Cleese
For every idealistic peacemaker willing to renounce his self-defence in favour of a weapons-free world, there is at least one warmaker anxious to exploit the other's good intentions. — Margaret Thatcher
Self-reliance is the best defence against the pressures of the moment. — Carl von Clausewitz
The United Nations charter gives every nation the right to self defence, therefore when the American embassies were bombed it was a matter of time before the Americans responded by going for what they suspected were the causes of the attack. — Benazir Bhutto
We need to teach our children how to debate the major life issues. Debate strengthens their beliefs and enables them to defend themselves against ideologies that are going to come their way. — Jim Rohn
All knives and forks were working away at a rate that was quite alarming; very few words were spoken; and everybody seemed to eat his utmost, in self defence, as if a famine were expected to set in before breakfast-time to-morrow morning, and it had become high time to assert the first law of nature. — Charles Dickens
Lying is the most simple form of self-defence. — Susan Sontag
Nonviolence becomes meaningless if violence is permitted for self-defence. — Mahatma Gandhi
Legitimate steps of self-defence which Israel takes in its war against Palestinian terror - actions which any sovereign state is obligated to undertake to ensure the security of its citizens - are presented by those who hate Israel as aggressive, Nazi-like steps. — Ariel Sharon
The academic mind, as we know, is sometimes capable of assuming an aggressive attitude. The official mind, on the contrary, is and has to be, expert in the art of self-defence. — Ronald Fisher
Enlightened self-interest from those involved in hydrocarbons should lead to the support of technologies enabling the clean use of hydrocarbons, such as carbon capture and storage, and not to the defence of deniers and cranks. — Nicholas Stern
In a world full of danger, to be a potentially seeable object is to be constantly exposed to danger. Self-consciousness, then, may be the apprehensive awareness of oneself as potentially exposed to danger by the simple fact of being visible to others. The obvious defence against such a danger is to make oneself invisible in one way or another. — R. D. Laing
Humour has always been a self-defence mechanism for me. — Brooke Shields
By his willingly renouncing self-defence, the Christian affirms his absolute adherence to Jesus, and his freedom from the tyranny of his own ego. The exclusiveness of this adherence is the only power which can overcome evil. — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Individual civil disobedience was everybody's inherent right, like the right of self-defence in normal life. — Mahatma Gandhi
He could not forget the touch of her arms around his neck, impatiently felt as it had been at the time; but now the recollection of her clinging defence of him, seemed to thrill him through and through,—to melt away every resolution, all power of self-control, as if it were wax before a fire. — Elizabeth Gaskell
But to cut off relations with an aggressor may often invite retaliation by armed action, and this would, in its turn, make necessary some form of collective self-defence by the loyal members of the League. — Arthur Henderson
It was essentially for self defence that we went to war in Afghanistan and would go to war in Iraq. — Douglas Hurd
At the bottom of religious persecution is the doctrine of self-defence; that is to say, the defence of the soul. If the founder of Christianity had plainly said: 'It is not necessary to believe in order to be saved; it is only necessary to do, and he who really loves his fellow-men, who is kind, honest, just and charitable, is to be forever blest' - if he had only said that, there would probably have been but little persecution. — Robert Green Ingersoll
It would have been very alarming - morally, and in other ways too - if an attack of that nature, the 11 September attacks, had not aroused in us and in our governments and societies the spirit of self-defence. If that had not been one of the responses it seems to me there would have been very grave cause for concern. — Christopher Hitchens
Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action. . . . . . . Prayer is the first and the last lesson in learning the noble and brave art of sacrificing self in the various walks of life culminating in the defence of one's nation's liberty and honour. — Mahatma Gandhi
I would, therefore, say that for no reason whatsoever, except in self-defense, should one think of killing any animal. — Morarji Desai
We dream of a day when India is completely self-reliant in defence production & exports defence equipment worldwide. — Narendra Modi
We dream of an India that is self-sufficient in producing defence equipment using the latest technology. — Narendra Modi
Should we choose to extend our airstrikes into Syria, we will be doing this in the collective self-defence of Iraq. We would be doing this out of a responsibility to protect innocent people at risk of horrible death from the most violent people imaginable. — Tony Abbott
War is never lenient but where it is wanton; where men are compelled to fight in self-defence, they must hate and avenge. This may be bad, but it is human nature; it is the clay as it came from the hands of the Potter. — Thomas B. Macaulay
In their pure form, the martial arts demand the intense awareness of the meditative mind, and have nothing to do with anger or wanton aggression. A practitioner is taught from the outset that the skills must never be used for personal gain, but only in self-defence or in the protection of others -- and even then only enough force as is absolutely necessary should be used. — David Fontana
Courage is worthy of respect when displayed in the maintenance of legitimate claims and in the repelling of aggressions, bodily or other. Courage is worthy of yet higher respect when danger is faced in defence of claims common to self and others, as in resistance to invasion. Courage is worthy of the highest respect when risk to life or limb is dared in defence of others. — Herbert Spencer
I always make it a rule to let the other fellow fire first. If a man wants to fight, I argue the question with him and try to show him how foolish it would be. If he can't be dissuaded, why then the fun begins but I always let him have first crack. Then when I fire, you see, I have the verdict of self-defence on my side. I know that he is pretty certain in his hurry, to miss. I never do. — Ben Thompson
We are self-uncertain creatures, and we may Yea, even when we know not, mix our spites And private hates with our defence of Heaven. — Alfred Lord Tennyson
Daughters could survive a powerful mother, but boys found it almost impossible. Such boys were often severely damaged and spent the rest of their lives running away from their mothers, or from anybody who remotely reminded them of their mothers; either that, or they became their mothers, in a desperate, misguided act of psychological self defence. — Alexander McCall Smith
I can't bear to be on a train without a book", she announced. " It's a form of self-defence in a way" . — John Boyne
If she and Sam ever had kids, they'd be gluten-intolerant out of self-defence. — Maggie Stiefvater
A decent government with an effective, but not gratuitously violent, police force and a fair court system are essential. This deters and incapacitates psychopaths, bullies and hotheads - and if it earns the confidence of the people, they don't have to become violent in self-defence. — Steven Pinker
In Conclusion
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