Conflict Quotes

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  Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.

  William Ellery Channing

  Inspirational, God, Stay Strong

  William Ellery Channing (1839). “Self-culture: An address introductory to the Franklin lectures, delivered at Boston, September, 1838”, p.42

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• Frankly speaking, we all know that provoking military and political instability, regional, and other conflicts is a helpful means of distracting the public from growing domestic social and economic problems in certain countries. Such attempts cannot be ruled out, unfortunately.

  Vladimir Putin

  Honesty, Military, Responsibility

  Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the World Economic Forum, archive.premier.gov.ru. January 28, 2009.

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• With many sovereign states, with no system of law enforceable among them, with each state judging its grievances and ambitions according to the dictates of its own reason or desire - conflict, sometimes leading to war, is bound to occur.

  Kenneth Waltz

  War, Ambition, Law

  Kenneth N. Waltz (2010). “Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis”, p.159, Columbia University Press

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• The issue [Israeli-Palestinian conflict], already lasting more than half a century, has brought deep suffering to the Palestinian people and remains an important reason of extended turbulence in the Middle East region.

  Xi Jinping

  Issues, People, Suffering

  "China Rebukes Israel Ahead of Netanyahu Visit". edition.cnn.com. May 07, 2013.

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• Our goals are the same as those of the U.N.'s founders, who sought to replace a world at war with one where the rule of law would prevail, where human rights were honored, where development would blossom, where conflict would give way to freedom from violence.

  Ronald Reagan

  War, Rights, Law

  United States. President (1981-1989 : Reagan), Ronald Reagan (1983). “Ronald Reagan”

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• There can be no religious discourse which is in conflict with its environment and with the world and therefore, we Muslims need to modify this religious discourse. And this has nothing to do with conviction and with religious beliefs, because those are immutable. But we need a new discourse that will be adapted to a new world and which will remove some of the misconceptions.

  Abdel Fattah el-Sisi

  Religious, Needs, World

  "Egyptian President Sisi: Muslims Need To Reform Their Religious Discourse" by Kathleen Miles, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 22, 2015.

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• It is natural that we face obstacles in pursuit of our goals. But if we remain passive, making no effort to solve the problems we meet, conflicts will arise and hindrances will grow. Transforming these obstacles into opportunities is a challenge to our human ingenuity.

  Dalai Lama

  Opportunity, Goal, Effort

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• The important issue for us is bringing (people) who recognize the Palestinian people's rights and work on ending the occupation (to the Palestinian territories) and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

  Mohammed Dahlan

  Issues, Rights, People

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• A king can stand people's fighting but he can't last long if people start thinking.

  Will Rogers

  Kings, War, Fighting

  Will Rogers, James Smallwood, Steven K. Gragert (1980). “Will Rogers' Weekly Articles: The Harding”

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• Ultimate peace begins within; when we find peace within there will be no more conflict, no more occasion for war. If this is the peace you seek, purify your body by sensible living habits, purify your mind by expelling all negative thoughts, purify your motives by casting out any ideas of greed or self-striving and by seeking to serve you fellow human beings, purify your desires by eliminating all wishes for material possessions or
  self-glorification and by desiring to know and do God's will for you. Inspire others to do likewise.

  Peace Pilgrim

  War, Self, Ideas

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• What we need most is to restore and revive our humanity. We must create a society where people can live with dignity, a society where people can live in peace and happiness. People are tired of games played for power and profit. People are tired of hatred and conflict. They want to live with more wisdom and confidence, and in peace. It may seem like a long and distant path, but I am convinced that the 21st century must see a movement to sow the seeds of peace, happiness and trust in every person's heart. The seeds of a truly humane way of life. I am convinced this is the only path.

  Daisaku Ikeda

  Tired, Heart, Humane Way

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• Christianity has held back any further advances in human consciousness for the past thousand years. And for the past century it's been in direct conflict with its illegitimate offspring, Communism (again with a capital C). Both ask the individual to sacrifice his self-interest to the higher goals of the organization. (Which is okay by me as long as it's voluntary; but as soon as either becomes too big - and takes on that damned capital C - they stop asking for cooperation and start demanding it.)
  Any higher states of human enlightenment have been sacrificed between these two monoliths.

  David Gerrold

  Sacrifice, Past, Self

  "The Man Who Folded Himself". Book by David Gerrold, 1973.

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• Serious research and development efforts are required to produce technologies, strategies, organizations, and trained personnel who can go into failed states, work with our allies and friends, and promote the political and economic reforms that will meet popular needs and reduce the sources of terrorism and conflict.

  Wesley Clark

  Technology, Research And Development, Organization

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• What we try to do as Elders is help those who are trying to change their own societies and communities for the better. We hope that by supporting the good work that is being done, especially at the grass roots, we can help to alleviate the suffering of human beings. That is our core mission - to draw attention to the impact that conflict, injustice and poverty have on ordinary people.

  Desmond Tutu

  Roots, Impact, People

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

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• Poverty - the greatest cause of human suffering on the planet - is itself exacerbated by conflict, competition for resources, injustice, even the global downturn and climate change. Diseases like AIDS, TB and malaria cannot be tackled without adequate resources. So you see everything is connected. In order to address any major cause of human suffering, we have to work together across many fronts.

  Desmond Tutu

  Order, Competition, Suffering

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

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• We sincerely and earnestly believe in peace; but if peace and justice conflict, we scorn the man who would not stand for justice though the whole world came in arms against him.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Believe, Men, Justice

  Citizenship in a Republic - The Man in the Arena, delivered 23 April 1910, Le Sorbonne, University of Paris

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• The scientific-religious conflict ultimately is a conflict between allegiance to this method and allegiance to even an irreducible minimum of belief so fixed in advance that it can never be modified.

  John Dewey

  Religious, Atheism, Belief

  William James, John Dewey, John M. Capps, Donald Capps (2005). “James and Dewey on Belief and Experience”, p.241, University of Illinois Press

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• I dont agree with those who think that the conflict is simply between two religions, namely Christianity and Islam... To me, the key conflict is between irrational blind faith and rational, logical minds.

  Taslima Nasrin

  Thinking, Keys, Two

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  The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.

  Thomas Paine

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  Thomas Paine (1817). “The Political Works of Thomas Paine: In Two Volumes”

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• Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Peace, Sobriety, Passive Aggressive

  Gandhi (Mahatma), Horace Gundry Alexander, National Committee for the Gandhi Centenary (1968). “Mahatma Gandhi: 100 years”

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• Conflict is the primary engine of creativity and innovation.

  Ronald A. Heifetz

  Creativity, Innovation, Engines

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• The question of how people orient around religion differently, or interact with one another, whether that be based on conflict or cooperation, will be one of the most engaging questions of the 21st century.

  Eboo Patel

  People, Cooperation, Century

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  Conflict cannot survive without your participation.

  Wayne Dyer

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  Dyer, Wayne (2005). “Everyday Wisdom”, p.216, Hay House, Inc

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• When you're in the Middle of an Argument, ask yourself: Do I want to be Right or be Happy?

  Wayne Dyer

  Happy, Want, Arguing

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• Religion is the cause of all the problems in the world. I don’t believe in organized religion at all. It’s what separates people. One religion just represents fragments, it causes war. More people have died because of religious conflict than any other reason.

  Gwyneth Paltrow

  Religious, War, Believe

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