Quote by Horace Mann
More will sometimes be demanded of you than is reasonable. Bear it meekly, and exhaust your time and strength in performing your duties, rather than in vindicating your rights. Be silent, even when you are misrepresented. Turn aside when opposed, rather than confront opposition with resistance. Bear and forbear, not defending yourselves, so much as trusting to your works to defend you. Yet, in counselling you thus, I would not be understood to be a total non-resistant;a perfectly passive, non-elastic sand-bag, in society; but I would not have you resist until the blow be aimed, not so much at you, as, through you, at the sacred cause of human improvement, in which you are engaged,a point at which forbearance would be allied to crime.
Summary
This quote advises individuals to remain humble and patient even when they are faced with unreasonable demands or misrepresentations. It encourages focusing on fulfilling their responsibilities instead of seeking personal validation or asserting their rights. Rather than engaging in direct confrontations, it suggests avoiding opposition and relying on their actions to speak for themselves. However, it clarifies that this approach does not imply complete pacifism, but rather a strategic resistance to protect the greater cause of human progress.
By Horace Mann
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