There are some times that you have to fight for something, your rights, the rights of others, your family, your friends and so on. There are others when it is better to go with the flow, to be the willow tree, bending in the wind, the stick floating down the river, being carried along rather than fighting against the current. I think this is fairly clear to most people. It isn't just a case of wanting a quiet life, or being apathetic or ambivalent, it can be the correct course of action in a given situation. The real trick is not accepting that sometimes it is ok not to fight, the real trick is summed up in the addicts prayer....
"Lord, grant me the courage to accept the things I can not change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
Historically there have been proponents of both techniques. Certainly, Ghandi in later life advocated peaceful protest and organised civil disobedience as better methods for change, and I would argue that the Buddha prescribed similar "soft" approaches to problem solving. Marx on the other hand felt that there was a need for positive action against the status quo in order to effect change. Often an apparent position of weakness can mask an underlying strength. In the case of Ghandi, his actions may well not have been as effective if he hadn't had such a massive population outnumbering the colonial forces, but who knows?
In life, balance is everything, and the only way to achieve balance is to understand what you are trying to balance....
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