The very pragmatic necessity of nonviolent social change was expressed eloquently by Martin Luther King, Jr.:
The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. (From the book STATES of GRACE by Charlene Spretnak, page 61)