BeginWithMe.org- A Search for Peace

Here are a collection of quotes from many different religious leaders, presidents, scientists, poets and writers, all on the topic of peace. It reveals that God is still talking through mankind and inspiring all races and religions throughout the world, even today, with a common message. Will you be listening when God speaks to you?

“They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Isaiah, II:4

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Mohandas K. Gandhi

"Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today."
John F. Kennedy

"There was never a good war or a bad peace." Benjamin Franklin

“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
Mother Theresa (1910-1997)

"War is cruelty and you cannot refine it." Gen. William T. Sherman 1820-1891

"Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime"
Ernest Hemingway

"More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars -- yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments."
Franklin D. Roosevelt.

"We should take care, in inculcating patriotism into our boys and girls that is patriotism above the narrow sentiment which usually stops at one's country, and thus inspires jealousy and enmity in dealing with others... Our patriotism should be of the wider, nobler kind which recognizes justice and reasonableness in the claims of others and which lead our country into comradeship with...the other nations of the world. The first step to this end is to develop peace and goodwill within our borders, by training our youth of both sexes to its practice as their habit of life, so that the jealousies of town against town, class against class and sect against sect no longer exist; and then to extend this good feeling beyond our frontiers towards our neighbors." Lord Baden-Powell

One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

"I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it." Dwight D. Eisenhower

"The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend." Abraham Lincoln

"There is no way to peace. Peace is the way." A.J. Muste.

"I would say that I'm a nonviolent soldier. In place of weapons of violence, you have to use your mind, your heart, your sense of humor, every faculty available to you...because no one has the right to take the life of another human being." Joan Baez

"This is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love."
Peace Pilgrim.

"If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. he lived, thought, and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony. We may ignore him at our own risk".
Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage that they did not know they had. Finally it reaches the opponent and so stirs his conscience that reconciliation becomes a reality." Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Can one have love? If we could, love would need to be a thing, a substance that one can have, own, possess. The truth is, there is no such thing as "love." "Love" is an abstraction, perhaps a goddess or an alien being, although nobody has ever seen this goddess. In reality, there exists only the act of loving. To love is a productive activity. It implies caring for, knowing, responding, affirming, enjoying: the person, the tree, the painting, the idea. It means bringing to life, increasing his/her/its aliveness. It is a process, self-renewing and self increasing.” Erich Fromm

"Whether humanity will consciously follow the law of love, I do not know. But that need not disturb me. The law will work just as the law of gravitation works, whether we accept it or not. The person who discovered the law of love was a far greater scientist than any of our modern scientists. Only our explorations have not gone far enough and so it is not possible for everyone to see all its workings." Mahatma Gandhi

". . . man is a Muslim who never hurts anyone by word or deed, but who works for the benefit and happiness of God's creatures. Belief in God is to love one's fellow men." Mohammed

"We frail humans are at one time capable of the greatest good and, at the same time, capable of the greatest evil. Change will only come about when each of us takes up the daily struggle ourselves to be more forgiving, compassionate, loving, and above all joyful in the knowledge that, by some miracle of grace, we can change as those around us can change too. Maíread Maguire

"All ideologies end up killing people. If you separate love from nonviolence you turn nonviolence into an ideology, a gimmick. Structures that are not inhabited by justice and love have no liberating or reconciling force, and are never sources of life." Jean Goss

"The essence of nonviolence is love. Out of love and the willingness to act selflessly, strategies, tactics, and techniques for a nonviolent struggle arise naturally. Nonviolence is not a dogma; it is a process." Thich Nhat Hanh

"We, the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal right of men and women and of nations large and small....And for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors...have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims." Preamble, Charter of the United Nations.

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” Mother Teresa

“Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.” Benjamin Franklin

“Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contribute the best that they have and all that they are.” Hafsat Abiola

”The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.” Black Elk (1863-1950)

“Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.” Buddha (560-483 B.C.)

“Do you know what astonished me most in the world? The inability of force to create anything. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the spirit. Soldiers usually win battles and generals get the credit for them. You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war. If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.” Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)

“We know how to organize warfare, but do we know how to act when confronted with peace?”
Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-1997)

“Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighboring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.”
The XIVth Dalai Lama

“If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.”
Moshe Dayan (1915-1981)

”Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.”
Albert Einstein (1979-1955)

”We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.” William Gladstone (1809-1898)

“If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.” Thich Nhat Hanh

”Peace-making is a healing process and it begins with me, but it does not end there.”
Gene Knudsen Hoffman

“The goal toward which all history tends is peace, not peace through the medium of war, not peace through a process of universal intimidation, not peace through a program of mutual impoverishment, not peace by any means that leaves the world too weak or too frightened to go on fighting, but peace pure and simple based on that will to peace which has animated the overwhelming majority of mankind through countless ages. This will to peace does not arise out of a cowardly desire to preserve one's life and property, but out of conviction that the fullest development of the highest powers of men can be achieved only in a world of peace.”
Robert Maynard Hutchins (1899-1977)

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.

If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbors.

If there is to be peace between neighbors,
There must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.
Lao Tzu (570-490 B.C.)

”It is a good moment to repeat that a war is never won. Never mind that history books tell us the opposite. The psychological and material costs of war are so high that any triumph is a pyrrhic victory. Only peace can be won and winning peace means not only avoiding armed conflict but finding ways of eradicating the causes of individual and collective violence: injustice and oppression, ignorance and poverty, intolerance and discrimination. We must construct a new set of values and attitudes to replace the culture of war which, for centuries, has been influencing the course of civilization. Winning peace means the triumph of our pledge to establish, on a democratic basis, a new social framework of tolerance and generosity from which no one will feel excluded.” Federico Mayor

“Peace may sound simple - one beautiful word - but it requires everything we have, every quality, every strength, every dream, every high ideal.” Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999)

“The more we sweat in peace the less we bleed in war.” Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1900-1990)

“To reach peace, teach peace.” Pope John Paul II

“In the hearts of people today there is a deep longing for peace. When the true spirit of peace is thoroughly dominant, it becomes an inner experience with unlimited possibilities. Only when this really happens - when the spirit of peace awakens and takes possession of men's hearts, can humanity be saved from perishing.” Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

		"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Mohandas K. Gandhi
Our Thoughts The Search Religious Tolerance Loving-Kindness Words of Wisdom Share Your Thoughts Links Gandhi Institute Department of Peace Sharon Salzberg Insight Meditation Society Google Search Yahoo Search Support BeginWithMe.org Peace begins with you. Show the world you're trying! Add to favorites Tell a friend:	Here are a collection of quotes from many different religious leaders, presidents, scientists, poets and writers, all on the topic of peace. It reveals that God is still talking through mankind and inspiring all races and religions throughout the world, even today, with a common message. Will you be listening when God speaks to you? “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Isaiah, II:4 "I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." Mohandas K. Gandhi "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind...War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today." John F. Kennedy "There was never a good war or a bad peace." Benjamin Franklin “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” Mother Theresa (1910-1997) "War is cruelty and you cannot refine it." Gen. William T. Sherman 1820-1891 "Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime" Ernest Hemingway "More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginning of all wars -- yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments." Franklin D. Roosevelt. "We should take care, in inculcating patriotism into our boys and girls that is patriotism above the narrow sentiment which usually stops at one's country, and thus inspires jealousy and enmity in dealing with others... Our patriotism should be of the wider, nobler kind which recognizes justice and reasonableness in the claims of others and which lead our country into comradeship with...the other nations of the world. The first step to this end is to develop peace and goodwill within our borders, by training our youth of both sexes to its practice as their habit of life, so that the jealousies of town against town, class against class and sect against sect no longer exist; and then to extend this good feeling beyond our frontiers towards our neighbors." Lord Baden-Powell One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) "I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it." Dwight D. Eisenhower "The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend." Abraham Lincoln "There is no way to peace. Peace is the way." A.J. Muste. "I would say that I'm a nonviolent soldier. In place of weapons of violence, you have to use your mind, your heart, your sense of humor, every faculty available to you...because no one has the right to take the life of another human being." Joan Baez "This is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love." Peace Pilgrim. "If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. he lived, thought, and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony. We may ignore him at our own risk". Martin Luther King, Jr. "The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage that they did not know they had. Finally it reaches the opponent and so stirs his conscience that reconciliation becomes a reality." Martin Luther King, Jr. “Can one have love? If we could, love would need to be a thing, a substance that one can have, own, possess. The truth is, there is no such thing as "love." "Love" is an abstraction, perhaps a goddess or an alien being, although nobody has ever seen this goddess. In reality, there exists only the act of loving. To love is a productive activity. It implies caring for, knowing, responding, affirming, enjoying: the person, the tree, the painting, the idea. It means bringing to life, increasing his/her/its aliveness. It is a process, self-renewing and self increasing.” Erich Fromm "Whether humanity will consciously follow the law of love, I do not know. But that need not disturb me. The law will work just as the law of gravitation works, whether we accept it or not. The person who discovered the law of love was a far greater scientist than any of our modern scientists. Only our explorations have not gone far enough and so it is not possible for everyone to see all its workings." Mahatma Gandhi ". . . man is a Muslim who never hurts anyone by word or deed, but who works for the benefit and happiness of God's creatures. Belief in God is to love one's fellow men." Mohammed "We frail humans are at one time capable of the greatest good and, at the same time, capable of the greatest evil. Change will only come about when each of us takes up the daily struggle ourselves to be more forgiving, compassionate, loving, and above all joyful in the knowledge that, by some miracle of grace, we can change as those around us can change too. Maíread Maguire "All ideologies end up killing people. If you separate love from nonviolence you turn nonviolence into an ideology, a gimmick. Structures that are not inhabited by justice and love have no liberating or reconciling force, and are never sources of life." Jean Goss "The essence of nonviolence is love. Out of love and the willingness to act selflessly, strategies, tactics, and techniques for a nonviolent struggle arise naturally. Nonviolence is not a dogma; it is a process." Thich Nhat Hanh "We, the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal right of men and women and of nations large and small....And for these ends to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors...have resolved to combine our efforts to accomplish these aims." Preamble, Charter of the United Nations. “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” Mother Teresa “Love your enemies, for they tell you your faults.” Benjamin Franklin “Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contribute the best that they have and all that they are.” Hafsat Abiola ”The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us.” Black Elk (1863-1950) “Better than a thousand hollow words is one word that brings peace.” Buddha (560-483 B.C.) “Do you know what astonished me most in the world? The inability of force to create anything. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the spirit. Soldiers usually win battles and generals get the credit for them. You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war. If they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannon shots.” Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) “We know how to organize warfare, but do we know how to act when confronted with peace?” Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910-1997) “Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighboring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.” The XIVth Dalai Lama “If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.” Moshe Dayan (1915-1981) ”Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.” Albert Einstein (1979-1955) ”We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.” William Gladstone (1809-1898) “If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.” Thich Nhat Hanh ”Peace-making is a healing process and it begins with me, but it does not end there.” Gene Knudsen Hoffman “The goal toward which all history tends is peace, not peace through the medium of war, not peace through a process of universal intimidation, not peace through a program of mutual impoverishment, not peace by any means that leaves the world too weak or too frightened to go on fighting, but peace pure and simple based on that will to peace which has animated the overwhelming majority of mankind through countless ages. This will to peace does not arise out of a cowardly desire to preserve one's life and property, but out of conviction that the fullest development of the highest powers of men can be achieved only in a world of peace.” Robert Maynard Hutchins (1899-1977) If there is to be peace in the world, There must be peace in the nations. If there is to be peace in the nations, There must be peace in the cities. If there is to be peace in the cities, There must be peace between neighbors. If there is to be peace between neighbors, There must be peace in the home. If there is to be peace in the home, There must be peace in the heart. Lao Tzu (570-490 B.C.) ”It is a good moment to repeat that a war is never won. Never mind that history books tell us the opposite. The psychological and material costs of war are so high that any triumph is a pyrrhic victory. Only peace can be won and winning peace means not only avoiding armed conflict but finding ways of eradicating the causes of individual and collective violence: injustice and oppression, ignorance and poverty, intolerance and discrimination. We must construct a new set of values and attitudes to replace the culture of war which, for centuries, has been influencing the course of civilization. Winning peace means the triumph of our pledge to establish, on a democratic basis, a new social framework of tolerance and generosity from which no one will feel excluded.” Federico Mayor “Peace may sound simple - one beautiful word - but it requires everything we have, every quality, every strength, every dream, every high ideal.” Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999) “The more we sweat in peace the less we bleed in war.” Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (1900-1990) “To reach peace, teach peace.” Pope John Paul II “In the hearts of people today there is a deep longing for peace. When the true spirit of peace is thoroughly dominant, it becomes an inner experience with unlimited possibilities. Only when this really happens - when the spirit of peace awakens and takes possession of men's hearts, can humanity be saved from perishing.” Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)	Suggested Reading Peace is the Way Deepak Chopra Peace Begins With You Katherine Scholes Children's Book The Power of Intention Dr. Wayne Dyer Guided Mindfulness Meditation John Kabat-Zinn Audio CD Lovingkindness Meditation CD by Sharon Salzberg Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzberg