An absence or active rejection of
violence in one's words, thoughts, and/or deeds. Often based on personal ethics or
religious or spiritual convictions.
Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Dorothy Day[?],
Cesar Chavez and
Mohandas K. Gandhi are often cited as great theorists of nonviolence and leaders of nonviolent social movements.
See pacifism, Civil disobedience, Civil and social disobedience, and satyagraha.