(bold added by me)"Overcome the angry by non-anger; overcome the wicked by goodness; overcome the miser by generosity; overcome the lair by truth."
and:
"Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal."
I like these because they plainly show how to make the world a better place by practicing kind acts, honesty and compassion. But we clearly see in our world that people tend to repay anger and hatred with more anger and hatred. While that gives them a temporary sense of sanctification, it promotes a cycle of anger and hatred and only makes the world worse off in the long run. If we stop and think before we act, we can realize that if we humble ourselves and resist the urge to fight back, we can return unkind acts with kindness, and we'll never go wrong. The world will either get a little better or stay the same. But it will never get worse by our actions.
The first quote I think most certainly can apply, and the second one has some good potential, but I disagree with the interpretation, particularly the bolded section. I think it is absolutely wrong. One cannot always return misdeeds with kindness and reach a positive conclusion. take for example, the school bully. if you don't fight back, and appease him every time he bullies you, you will only be bullied more and more harshly.
There are some fights that you aren't going to win, and some people you aren't going to win over with kindness. The bolded philosophy, while valuable, only applies partially, and the trick is in knowing when to apply which course of action: Kindness to try and win over you aggressor, active resistance to defeat him, cunning to make him unable or unwilling to continue, or exodus to remove yourself from the problem.
with the example of a school bully this would of course, be along the lines of the following: Kindness - make him your friend so he doesn't harass you anymore. Active resistance - beat him up so he stops harassing you. cunning - get him suspended, expelled, or manipulate his motives. or exodus - switch to a different class or school.
Any of these, if executed properly, would accomplish the goal, the idea is to pick which one accomplishes it most effectively and reasonably. Buddhism of course, limits you to Kindness or exodus.
Question for debate: Can kindness and not fighting back succeed in all situations? why or why not?