I am not a committed pacifist. I would not hold that it is under all imaginable circumstances wrong to use violence, even though use of violence is in some sense unjust. I believe that one has to estimate relative justices. But the use of violence and the creation of some degree of injustice can only be justified on the basis of the claim and the assessment-which always ought to be undertaken very, very seriously and with a good deal of scepticism that this violence is being exercised because a more just result is going to be achieved. . Noam Chomsky
About This Quote

John Rawls, an American political philosopher, was a strong opponent of the Vietnam War. However, when asked what he thought of the use of violence to achieve justice, his reply was 'I am not a committed pacifist. I would not hold that it is under all imaginable circumstances wrong to use violence, even though use of violence is in some sense unjust. I believe that one has to estimate relative justices. But the use of violence and the creation of some degree of injustice can only be justified on the basis of the claim and the assessment-which always ought to be undertaken very, very seriously and with a good deal of scepticism that this violence is being exercised because a more just result is going to be achieved.'

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More Quotes By Noam Chomsky
  1. Do you train for passing tests or do you train for creative inquiry?

  2. I was never aware of any other option but to question everything.

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  4. Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it's from Neptune.

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