The unalienable right to use reasonable force to protect your person or property from attack or violence is known as self-defense.
The greatest approach to combat violence and defend yourself is to learn a self-defense technique, such as martial arts, Krav Maga, Jiu Jitsu, or Karate. These well-known self-defense quotes from great and influential people like Mahatma Gandhi, Bruce Lee, Martin Luther King Jr., and Ronald Reagan will motivate you to defend yourself and be self-sufficient.
Inspirational Self-Defense Quotes
Self-defense never centers on a particular problem. You can't just arm yourself with a strong weapon and hope to defend yourself. It is made up of a variety of elements that work together to give you the best chance of survival.
"My father was the first person to introduce me to self-defense and martial arts, which I’ve been doing all my life now."
- Joe R. Lansdale.
"Self-defense is not only our right; it is our duty."
- Ronald Reagan.
"Self-defense is Nature’s eldest law."
- John Dryden.
"I am not all sneers and scathing, you see, I have my gentler side."
- 'The Infinities', John Banville.
"Gracie Jiu-Jitsu is the most complete art of self-defense there is out there. You don’t have to be strong. You don’t have to be fast."
- Royce Gracie.
"Self-defense, self-confidence, discipline, and self-control. The values you learn are priceless."
- Rickson Gracie.
"The right of self-defense never ceases. It is among the most sacred, and alike necessary to nations and to individuals, and whether the attack is made by Spain herself or by those who abuse her power, its obligation is not the less strong."
- James Monroe.
"Self-defense is recovery from stupidity or bad luck."
- SGT Miller.
"Protecting yourself is self-defense. Protecting others is warriorship."
- Bodhi Sanders, Martial Arts Wisdom: Quotes, Maxims, and Stories for Martial Artists and Warriors.
"There’s only one basic principle of self-defense - you must apply the most effective weapon, as soon as possible, to the most vulnerable target."
- Bruce Lee.
"The duel may go on for a long time, but self-defense often wins over self-reproach."
- Pawan Mishra, 'Coinman: An Untold Conspiracy'.
"Tomorrow’s battle is won during today’s practice."
- Samurai Maxim.
"Self-defense is a virtue, Sole bulwark of all right."
- Lord Byron.
"In training self-defense, there’s no cost….it’s an investment."
- Coah Michael Joyce.
"The hard part about one being tough yet meek is the illusion of being a punching bag."
- 'Killosophy', Criss Jami.
"You had a good dinner of properly fried food, and if you want to live long enough to have another one, you’ve got to weaponize properly."
- 'Deeply Odd', Dean Koontz.
Self-Defense Quotes For Self-Sufficiency
Getting wise guidance on self-defense and self-protection is a great approach to becoming more aware of your surroundings and inspiring yourself to take control of your life.
"The criminal does not expect his prey to fight back. May he never choose you, but, if he does, surprise him."
- Jeff Cooper.
"When we talk about violence, we do not always talk about death, I said. Sometimes violence can mean the difference between life and death. The difference between waiting for someone’s help and continuing to suffer abuse, and helping yourself when you most need it."
- Tanaz Bhathena.
"It is high time for society to stop worrying about the criminal, and to let the criminal start worrying about society. And by 'society' I mean you."
- Jeff Cooper.
"I have a self-defense mind. I’ve had it all my life."
- Conor McGregor.
"I have a high art: I hurt with cruelty those who would wound me."
- Archilochus of Paros.
"Self-defense is not just a set of techniques; it’s a state of mind, and it begins with the belief that you are worth defending."
- Rorion Gracie.
"If you want to win, you show some skin."
- Erran Morad.
"The body is the vehicle of the mind."
- 'Psychic Self-Defense', Dion Fortune.
"When a man is penalized for honesty he learns to lie."
- 'Salomé: In Every Inch In Every Mile', Criss Jami.
"The two most important things to do for self-defense are not to take a martial arts class or get a gun, but to think like the opposition and know where you’re most at risk.”
- Barry Eisler.
"I’m studying Krav Maga, which is an Israeli form of self-defense. It’s very deadly and without rules."
- Rupert Friend.
"Defense involves three things: courage, energy, intelligence."
- Don Meyer.
"In silence – and in self-defense – I figured things out in my own little way."
- Loretta Young.
"Your physical safety is up to you, as it really always has been."
- Jeff Cooper.
"I learned the technology and tradecraft of electronic security in self-defense, with a lot of expert help."
- Barton Gellman.
"I don’t even call it violence when it’s in self-defense; I call it intelligence."
-Malcolm X.
Self-Defense Quotes For Women
Learning self-defense skills benefits women in ways that go beyond simply knowing how to defend themselves. It also increases their self-esteem and has a favorable impact on their personality.
"The world is a scary place. Even my mother has suggested I take a self-defense class."
- Iliza Shlesinger.
"A damsel in complete distress was a burden to her protectors; one familiar with self-defense, not as much."
- 'Eidolon', Grace Draven.
"A woman who goes around wearing a knife is obviously looking for trouble. She reached deep into her pocket and brought out a long, slender piece of metal, glittering all along one edge. However, a woman who carries a knife is ready for trouble. Generally speaking, it’s easier to appear harmless. It’s less trouble all around."
- 'The Name of the Wind', Patrick Rothfuss.
"Nice girls, nice women, don't survive violent attacks."
-'Wommack's Self-Defense for Women: 3 Seconds to Live', David R. Wommack.
"I read in self-defense."
- Woody Allen.
'On a whim, I went with him. I could always stab him if he tried anything, after all."
-'The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion', Margaret Killjoy.
"She's missing some primal instinct, self-defense or self-preservation, which makes other human beings comprehensible."
- 'Normal People', Sally Rooney.
"Beautiful girls should know how to defend themselves against the advances of gentlemen."
- Cassandra Clare.
"An investigator has to have a defense arsenal. Heck, every woman alive should have one if she wants to stay that way."
-'Murder Bites the Bullet', Deb Baker.
Self-Defense Quotes For Citizens
These self-defense quotes from the world’s famous people will inspire you to know when to fight and when to choose peace instead.
"[Self-defense is] justly called the primary law of nature, so it is not, neither can it be in fact, taken away by the laws of society."
- William Blackstone.
"Most gun control arguments miss the point. If all control boils fundamentally to force, how can one resist aggression without equal force? How can a truly 'free' state exist if the individual citizen is enslaved to the forceful will of individual or organized aggressors? It cannot."
- Tiffany Madison.
"You can't go anywhere if you just resign yourself to being attacked. A state of chronic powerlessness eats away at a person."
- '1Q84' #1-2, Haruki Murakami.
"Guns are a necessary tool designed to help your people avoid a repeat of history."
- A.E. Samaan.
"I am more willing to recognize the reality of intractable conflict, and use force when nothing else will serve."
- 'Oath of Fealty', Elizabeth Moon.
"You do not have the right to take another human’s life unless it’s in strict self-defense."
- Michael Moore.
"We are not ready to fight because we love fighting. We are ready to fight because we are worth fighting for."
- 'As Black As Resistance: Finding the Conditions for Liberation', Zoé Samudzi.
"Your opinions of others can only go so far as to where their own shoreline is. The world is for your taking, but other people are not.
One is only allowed to have an opinion of me if that person is done educating him/herself on everything about me. Before people educate themselves on everything about you, they’re not allowed to open their venomous mouths and have an opinion about you."
- C. JoyBell C.
"First rule of self-defense is: Don’t ask your attacker for validation."
- 'Maybe He Just Likes You', Barbara Dee.
"Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac."
- George Orwell.
"Fighting corruption is not just good governance. It’s self-defense. It’s patriotism."
- Joe Biden.
"The principle of self-defense, even involving weapons and bloodshed, has never been condemned, even by Gandhi."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Self-defense...is the only honorable course where there is unreadiness for self-immolation."
- Mahatma Gandhi.
"War, except in self-defense, is a failure of moral imagination."
- Bill Moyers.
"It is important for long-range stability that peaceful countries be well armed and well organized in self-defense."
- Freeman Dyson, 'Disturbing the Universe'.
"When someone stabs you in the back and then apologizes, accept the apology, but don't give him the knife back to do it again!"
- Bohdi Sanders, 'BUSHIDO: The Way of the Warrior'.
"We should enable the private sector to engage in self-defense in the cyber world as we do in the physical world."
- Dmitri Alperovitch.
"Apathy is the self-defense of the powerless."
- Letty Cottin Pogrebin.
"A man of peace shall always live in peace, if all chances are given and only shall he stand to fight for his rights if peace and freedom isn't granted to him."
- Auliq Ice.
"Right to Self Defense + Right to Peaceably Assemble = Militia."
- Mike Klepper.
“It is happy to be happy in war than seeking happiness through peace without freedom.”
-Kangoma Kindembo.
"For Every Idealistic Peacemaker Willing To Renounce His Self-Defence In Favour Of A Weapons-Free World, There Is At Least One Warmaker Anxious To Exploit The Other’s Good Intentions."
- Margaret Thatcher.
"Self-defense is a part of the law of nature; nor can it be denied the community, even against the king himself."
- William Barclay.
