'Every person who ever thought he had a right to assert, and went boldly and asserted it, himself, or jointly with others that shared his convictions, was a direct actionist. Some thirty years ago I recall that the Salvation Army was vigorously practising direct action in the maintenance of the freedom of its members to speak, assemble, and pray. Over and over they were arrested, fined and imprisoned; but they kept right on singing, praying and marching, till they finally compelled their persecutors to let them alone. The Industrial Workers are now conducting the same fight, and have in a number of cases, compelled the officials to let them alone by the same direct tactics.'
'Every person who ever had a plan to do anything, and went and did it, or who laid his plan before others, and won their co-operation to do it with him, without going to external authorities to please do the thing for them, was a direct actionist. All co-operative experiments are essentially direct action.'
'For the basis of all political action is coercion; even when the State does good things, it finally rests on a club, a gun, or a prison, for its power to carry them through.'
'The Puritans had accused the Quakers of 'troubling the world by preaching peace to it.' They refused to pay church taxes: they refused to bear arms; they refused to swear allegiance to any government. (In doing so they were direct actionists, what we may call negative direct actionists).'
'George Washington is said to have been the leader of the Virginia planters' non importation league; he would now be 'enjoined', probably by a court, from forming any such league; and if he persisted, he would be fined for contempt.'
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