This is my favorite quote. I used to attribute it to Voltaire, before learning that he apparently never said anything of the sort. I believe I heard it in that excellent computer game/tangled web of conspiracy theories, Deus Ex.
Regardless of where it comes from, it is true, and inspiring at that. History gives us countless examples of good ideas and revolutionary thinking beating out (or at least surviving) competitive ideas and the old guard, despite a great disparity in firepower.
What really fights ideas is better ideas. All the important ideas that have been largely given up have been defeated by their own flaws and the superiority of competing ideas, and not by force. For example, Communist Russia was never even strongly deterred by our nuclear arsenal, yet a few guys with rifles and Mikhail Gorbachev basically dismantled it. This was not due to the threat of war or the toll of military buildup. It was because Russian-style Communism just doesn't work.
In summary, violence is not the answer. Learn to explain yourself and support your logic before you learn to use your rifle.