"The Kingdom of God Is Within You", by Leo Tolstoy, first published in Germany, in 1894 (after being banned in his homeland of Russia).

Personally, I've always disliked violence. I used physical force, as last resort in self-defense, five and 10 times more than years ago. I've never used deadly force, although I could have several times during my 10 military years (until I resigned 21+ years ago).

I've often questioned these & related wordly & spiritual matters back to my early elementary school years, when I started studying U.S. and world history, religion, politics, and economics, among many other things.

I've always wanted peace, gentleness, kindness, and compassion. I've usually striven (with occasional pauses) towards these ends, including during my long-ago military years, and even more so during the subsequent 21 & counting years.

After having read six, quite different translations of the Holy Bible; after reading many related Eastern, Western, Northern, and Southern Christian and non-Christian works, including those of Dr. Albert Schweitzer, Mahatma Gandhi & Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and now, after reading Tolstoy's "The Kingdom of God Is Within You": I think that I may now be a "pacifist", willing to use "nonviolent resistance" as my last resort.

I'll know more surely in time, with so many trials & tribulations everywhere.

Pax vobiscvm, +r