From the Quotation of the day mailing list, 2008-02-06:
"The saints, the hermits, the intellectuals... the ones that shaped history, are the people who said no. This refusal should not be small or sensible but large and total." -- Pier Paolo Pasolini, filmmaker, in a 1975 interview.
(submitted to the mailing list by Mike Krawchuk)
[1940-10-28: Benito Mussolini, through ambassador Emanuele Grazzi, issues an ultimatum to Greece, demanding that Greece allow Axis forces to occupy strategic locations. The Greek Prime Minister, Ιωαννης Μεταξας (Ioannis Metaxas) replied, simply, "Οχι" ("No"). From Wikipedia: "On the morning of October 28 the Greek population took to the streets, irrespective of political affiliation, shouting 'ohi'. From 1942, it was celebrated as Ohi Day." I'm not sure which examples Pasolini was thinking of, but that does sound like a "large and total" type of 'no'.]