Nonviolence seeks to ‘win’ not by destroying or even by humiliating the adversary, but by convincing [the adversary] that there is a higher and more certain common good than can be attained by bombs and blood. Nonviolence, ideally speaking, does not try to overcome the adversary by winning over [them], but to turn [them] from an adversary into a collaborator by winning [them] over.
Thomas Merton (2010). “The Nonviolent Alternative”, p.192, Macmillan
![Nonviolence seeks to ‘win’ not by destroying or even by humiliating the adversary, but by convincing [the adversary] that there is a higher and more certain common good than can be attained by bombs and blood.](http://cdn.quoteddaily.com/images/thomas-merton/nonviolence-seeks-to-win-not-by-destroying-or-even-by-humiliating-the-adversary-but-by-convincing-the-adversary-that-there.jpg)