Peacemaking Quotes

• When we bear witness, when we become the situation - homelessness, poverty, illness, violence, death - the right action arises by itself. We don't have to worry about what to do. We don't have to figure out solutions ahead of time. Peacemaking is the functioning of bearing witness. Once we listen with our entire body and mind, loving action arises.

  Bernie Glassman

  Inspirational, Death, Buddhist

  Bernie Glassman (2013). “Bearing Witness: A Zen Master's Lessons in Making Peace”, p.62, Penguin

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• It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.

  Eleanor Roosevelt

  Peace, Believe, Fidgeting

  Voice of America broadcast, November 11, 1951.

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  If you want peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.

  Desmond Tutu

  Life, Friendship, Peace

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• If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

  Mother Teresa

  Motivational, Family, Mother

  Mother Teresa (2010). “Where There Is Love, There Is God: A Path to Closer Union with God and Greater Love for Others”, p.329, Image

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• Peace may sound simple - one beautiful word - but it requires everything we have, every quality, every strength, every dream, every high ideal.

  Yehudi Menuhin

  Strength, Beautiful, Dream

  US Congress Congressional Record, V. 151, PT. 6, April 21, 2005 to May 5, 2005, p. 7471, 2009.

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• In a world so torn apart by rivalry, anger, and hatred, we have the privileged vocation to be living signs of a love that can bridge all divisions and heal all wounds.

  Henri Nouwen

  Bridges, Hatred, Division

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• Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Kings, Hate, Light

  "A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings".

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• We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Peace, Discovery, Fields

  Mahatma Gandhi, Mohandas Gandhi, Homer A. Jack (2005). “The Wit and Wisdom of Gandhi”, p.102, Courier Corporation

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• Without being peace, we cannot do anything for peace. If we cannot smile, we cannot help other people to smile. If we are not peaceful, then we cannot contribute to the peace movement.

  Nhat Hanh

  Helping Others, People, Peaceful

  Thich Nhat Hanh (2008). “Being Peace”, p.95, ReadHowYouWant.com

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• If you want peace, work for justice.

  Pope Paul VI

  Wisdom, Peace, Truth

  Pope Paul VI (2007). “Christian Values and Virtues”, Crossroad Publishing Company

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• All works of love are works of peace.

  Mother Teresa

  Love, Peace, Ubuntu

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  Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.67, Beacon Press

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• Anyone can love peace, but Jesus didn't say, "Blessed are the peace-lovers." He says �peacemakers.� He is referring to a life vocation, not a hobby on the sidelines of life.

  Jim Wallis

  Life, Jesus, Peace

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• Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare.

  Pope Francis

  Warfare

  "Pope Francis Calls Israel And Palestine Presidents In Plea For Gaza Ceasefire" By Yasmine Hafiz, www.huffingtonpost.com. July 18, 2014.

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• The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or one party or one nation. It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world.

  Franklin D. Roosevelt

  Peace, Party, Men

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• I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there.

  Mother Teresa

  Peace, War, Said

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• You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.

  Indira Gandhi

  Life, Friendship, Leadership

  "Indian and Pakistani Armies Confront Each Other Along Borders". The New York Times, October 20, 1971.

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• Prayer is the beginning and the end, the source and the fruit, the core and the content, the basis and the goal of all peacemaking.

  Henri Nouwen

  Prayer, Goal, Fruit

  Henri J. M. Nouwen (2005). “Peacework: Prayer, Resistance, Community”, Edicoes Loyola

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• Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Inspirational, Spiritual, Peace

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• Peace goes into the making of a poem as flour goes into the making of bread.

  Pablo Neruda

  Peace, Art, Bread

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• It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labors of peace.

  Andre Gide

  Leadership, Patience, Peace

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• Peace, to have meaning for many who have only known suffering in both peace and war, must be translated into bread or rice, shelter, health and education, as well as freedom and human dignity.

  Ralph Bunche

  Education, Peace, War

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  Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.

  Albert Einstein

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  Albert Einstein (2010). “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein”, p.252, Princeton University Press

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• Peace is the only battle worth waging.

  Albert Camus

  Peace, Humanity, Battle

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  Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.

  John Muir

  Peace, Nature, Sunshine

  Atlantic Monthly, Apr. 1898

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