Inspiring Quotes from George Lakey: Activist, Strategist, Trainer and Author

Introduction

Inspiring quotes from George Lakey, US activist, strategist, Quaker, trainer and writer. The quotes have been collated by the Commons Librarians from a variety of sources.

About George Lakey

George Lakey has spent more than sixty years on the frontlines of movements for peace, justice and nonviolent change. His first arrest came during a civil rights sit-in in the 1960s and his most recent was for taking action on the climate crisis in 2021.

Over the decades, he’s co-led a ship carrying medical aid to Vietnam in defiance of the U.S. war, organized within LGBTQ and anti-patriarchy movements, built cross-race, cross-class coalitions against Reagan-era policies, and even served as an unarmed bodyguard for human rights defenders in Sri Lanka. He’s walked hundreds of miles for environmental justice and trained thousands of people to take peaceful, powerful action.

George was an educator at Swarthmore College in the United States where he was the Professor for Issues in Social Change. During his time there he launched the Global Nonviolent Action Database documenting over 1000 real-world examples of nonviolent campaigns from almost 200 countries. He also co-founded and directed Training for Change, leading more than 1500 workshops across the world to help organisers, activists and community leaders strengthen their skills and confidence. He also co-founded the Movement for New Society, Choose Democracy. and the Earth Quaker Action Team.

George is also a writer and storyteller. He’s the author of many books, including How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning and Facilitating Group Learning.

In his late 80s George continues to teach, write and encourage new generations of changemakers, always reminding people that building a better world takes both strategy and heart.

Quotes

Strategy

We need a strategy that validates alternatives, supports the experience of freedom, and expands the skills of cooperation. We need a political strategy that is at the same time a community strategy, one that says “yes” to creative innovation in the here and now and links today’s creativity to the new society that lies beyond a power shift. – George Lakey, Strategizing for a Living Revolution.

Whatever an activist’s personal code of morality about violence and property destruction is, this question is a collective and strategic one. Evidence-based knowledge shows more allies are stirred to act when we heighten the contrast between our tactics and the tactics of our opponent. – George Lakey, Source

Courage

Many of us will never face a terror situation like that of pre-1970s Mississippi, but most of us do experience fear and might like to learn how to handle it. One tool is knowing that courage is contagious: If I act more boldly, there’s a good chance I’ll inspire others to handle their own fear and step up. – George Lakey, Source

‘Courage’ is a muscle developed through a series of successfully-taken risks. Each success expands the courage muscle, and loosens the self-limiting beliefs we walk around with. – George Lakey, Source

Fear

Fear is like a story that we make up. It has a beginning (now), a middle (the bold act), and an end (disaster). F.E.A.R. stands for: Fantasized Expectations Appearing Real. Knowing this invites an alternative: Use your imagination to make up a different story! – George Lakey, Source

For authoritarians, violence is about getting what they want, which is to make us scared. – George Lakey, Source

Curiosity

There are those who look at things the way they are and ask why; I dream of things that never were and ask why not. – George Lakey, Source

Vision

Think of joining a climbing party to go up Mount Everest: Does the guide spend their time telling the climbers all the places along the way where people got hurt or lost their lives, putting them in such a state of anxiety that they can’t climb well? Of course not. Effective guides focus on the task at hand, encourage the climbers to believe they can do well, and help them to visualize reaching the summit, i.e, winning. Organizers can learn from the wisdom of others who deal with danger. – George Lakey, Source

Pace & Opportunity 

There is, famously, a character in Chinese that includes both crisis and opportunity. I wish activists more often thought that way and planned accordingly. – George Lakey, Source

At our best, activists stay nimble. We scan the environment looking for lemons that can be turned into lemonade, noting that our society gives us lots of lemons. – George Lakey, Source

Very few movements seem to realize that the pace of change can accelerate so rapidly that it outstrips the movement’s ability to use its opportunities fully. – George Lakey, Source

Campaign, don’t just protest 

Occasional actions that simply protest a particular policy or egregious action aren’t enough. They may relieve an individual’s conscience for a moment, but, ultimately, episodic actions, even large ones, don’t assert enough power. Over and over, the Global Nonviolent Action Database shows that positive results come from a series of escalating, connected actions called a campaign. – George Lakey, Source

Social Change & Personal Growth

While some campaigns are invitations to burn-out, others create a container that deliberately supports the campaigners to grow in their personal capacity and power. – George Lakey, Source

Campaigning groups that provide a container for personal empowerment attract young people. The practices help to ground them at a political moment when turbulence is everywhere. – George Lakey, Source

Dilemma Actions

The secret in designing a dilemma is that the campaigners need to create an advantage for themselves no matter what happens… Like a good playwright, the tactical artist uses imagination to create choices that are fine for the campaign but bad for the opponent. – George Lakey, Source

Training 

Training workshops accelerate the building of courage, especially if trainers help participants become aware of the difference between the “comfort zone” and the “learning zone.” Training for Change facilitators admit they are doing less than their best when they allow people to stay in their comfort zones. Learning happens when participants, although objectively safe, are uncomfortable. – George Lakey, Source

How well people strategize, organize, invent creative tactics, reach effectively to allies, use the full resources of the group and persevere at times of discouragement — all that can be enhanced by training. – George Lakey, Source

There are many aspects to preparation, and they include developing an overall strategy, a handy list of tactics that are mutually supportive and a communication network. It will help to train as many as possible because at a time of crisis, people look to the “early responders” for a way forward. – George Lakey, Source

Training adds skills and builds courage. – George Lakey, Source

Trainings are a valuable opportunity to bring people from different walks of life together and help them work toward their common goals. – George Lakey, Source

Explore Further

• The Wisdom of George Lakey: Insights from a Life of Activism – Articles on a broad array of topics
• Learn from George Lakey: Activist, Strategist, Trainer and Author – Projects and books
• George Lakey Collection on the Commons Library
• George Lakey’s Facebook page
• Quotes about Power and Social Change
• A Collection of Nonviolence Quotes
• Inspiring Quotes from Women Leaders and Activists
• Marshall Ganz Quotes and Wisdom about Leadership, Hope, Organizing and Narrative