Search Declarations

"I am not violent. I am a Muslim who lived down the street from the San Bernardino shooters in 2015. I know what it means to have your character questioned before you've done anything. I would never hu..."

Tabish Hasan

Founder of I Am Not Violent and the On Record Archive. CEO of Ummah Media Group.

"I am not a violent person, I do not promote violence and it's important people hear and understand my speech in its entirety rather than one phrase taken wildly out of context."

Madonna

Statement after 2017 Women's March speech was taken out of context. Published on madonna.com, January 22, 2017.

"I am surprised at the conditions that the government wants to impose on me. I am not a violent man."

Nelson Mandela

Reply to President Botha's conditional freedom offer, read by daughter Zindzi at Jabulani Stadium to 70,000 people. February 10, 1985.

"I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me, I would not shoot him."

Malala Yousafzai

First speech after surviving a Taliban assassination attempt. UN Youth Assembly, July 12, 2013. Cited Muhammad, Jesus, and Buddha as inspiration for n...

"There is nothing surprising in a Muslim or a Pathan like me subscribing to the creed of nonviolence. It was followed fourteen hundred years ago by the Prophet all the time he was in Mecca."

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan founded the Khudai Khidmatgar, a 100,000-person nonviolent army of Pashtun Muslims. Known as "the Frontier Gandhi."

"War is against the teachings of the Holy Quran. We are not supposed to take part in no wars unless declared by Allah or The Messenger."

Muhammad Ali

Conscientious objector statement refusing to fight in Vietnam, 1966. Stripped of heavyweight title, banned from boxing for 3 years. Supreme Court over...

"Never did I myself reach the point of striking Ms. Heard in any way, nor have I ever struck any woman in my life."

Johnny Depp

Testimony during the Depp v. Heard defamation trial, Fairfax County, Virginia. April 19, 2022.