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Peace

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“There are two religions in earth, which have distinct enmity against all other religions. These two are Christianity and Islam. They are not just satisfied with observing their own religions, but are determined to destroy all other religions. That’s why the only way to make peace with them is to embrace their religions.”
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Original works of Rabindranath Vol. 24 page 375, Vishwa Bharti; 1982.
“The most pious man can't stay in peace If it doesn't please his evil neighbor.”
Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) said by 1805 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Act IV, sc. iii, in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 15th ed. (1980), p. 414
“Every morning I have been looking at CNN to see if there is any reason for hope. I see a few large and impressive peace protests here and there around the world, but mostly I see empty robot faces monotonously reciting the magic incantations, "We must support the President" and "We must support our troops", both of which mean the killing must continue.”
Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007) first seen 1991 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Cosmic Trigger II: Down to Earth (1991)
“Farewell, and peace be with you if it may. I have lost, ye have won this hazard: yet perchance My loss may shine yet goodlier than your gain When time and God give judgment. If there be Truth, true is this, that I desired the right And ye with hands as red sustain the wrong As mine had been in triumph. Have your will: And God send each no bitterer end than mine.”
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) said by 1909 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In ease of body and peace of mind, all the different ranks of life are nearly upon a level, and the beggar, who suns himself by the side of the highway, possesses that security which kings are fighting for.”
Adam Smith (1723–1790) said by 1790 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our military is a national treasure. We entrust our commander-in-chief to make the hardest decisions our nation faces. Decisions about war and peace. Life and death. A president should respect the men and women who risk their lives to serve our country.”
Hillary Clinton (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, as soon as he [Trump] travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a cease fire, the release of dissidents, an opening of new opportunities in nations around the world, or even spends eleven hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina.”
Hillary Clinton (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You’re actually a soldier,” he said to me, “and you go along with this foolishness?” “I didn’t ask to be a soldier. And I can’t imagine a peace as foolish as this war we’re in.”
Joe Haldeman (born 1943) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The most disadvantageous peace is better than the most just war.”
Erasmus (1466–1536) first seen 1508 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Adagia (1508)
“The very elements themselves, though repugnant in their nature, yet, by a happy equilibrium, preserve eternal peace; and amid the discordancy of their constituent principles, cherish, by a friendly intercourse and coalition, an uninterrupted concord.”
Erasmus (1466–1536) said by 1536 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I need not repeat, that the most savage of the savage tribes in the forest, live among each other in amity. Lions show no fierceness to the lion race. The boar does not brandish his deadly tooth against his brother boar. The lynx lives in peace with the lynx. The serpent shews no venom in his intercourse with his fellow serpent; and the loving kindness of wolf to wolf is proverbial.”
Erasmus (1466–1536) said by 1536 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Let the public good overcome all private and selfish regards of every kind and degree; though in truth, even private and selfish regards, and every man's own interest, will be best promoted by the preservation of peace.”
Erasmus (1466–1536) said by 1536 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The rays from this beacon, lighting this gateway to the continent, will welcome the poor and the persecuted with the hope and promise of homes and citizenship. It will teach them that there is room and brotherhood for all who will support our institutions and aid in our development; but that those who come to disturb our peace and dethrone our laws are aliens and enemies forever.”
Chauncey Depew (1834–1928) first seen 1886 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Oration at the unveiling of the Statue of Liberty (28 october 1886)
“I think, here is your emblem To hang in the future sky; Not the cross, not the hive, But this; bright power, dark peace; Fierce consciousness joined with final Disinterestedness; Life with calm death; the falcon’s Realist eyes and act Married to the massive Mysticism of stone, Which failure cannot cast down Nor success make proud.”
Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962) first seen 1935 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Rock and Hawk" in Solstice and Other Poems (1935)
“Never, "for the sake of peace and quiet," deny your own experience or convictions.”
Dag Hammarskjöld (1905–1961) first seen 1952 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1952
“Truth is its [justice's] handmaid, freedom is its child, peace is its companion, safety walks in its steps, victory follows in its train; it is the brightest emanation from the Gospel; it is the greatest attribute of God.”
Sydney Smith (1771–1845) said by 1845 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To a disciple who was forever complaining about others the Master said, "If it is peace you want, seek to change yourself, not other people. It is easier to protect your feet with slippers than to carpet the whole of the earth.”
Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To those who seek to protect their ego true Peace brings only disturbance.”
Anthony de Mello (1931–1987) said by 1987 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and a widower that man who has lost his wife. But that man who has known the immense unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language is silent and holds its peace in impotence.”
Joseph Roux (1834–1905) said by 1905 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“May lily-dotted lakes delight your eye; May shade-trees bid the heat of noonday cease; May soft winds blow the lotus-pollen nigh; May all your path be pleasantness and peace.”
Kalidasa (active around 400) first seen 1912 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Act 4 (tr. Arthur W. Ryder, 1912)
“The whole visible world is perhaps nothing more than the rationalization of a man who wants to find peace for a moment. An attempt to falsify the actuality of knowledge, to regard knowledge as a goal still to be reached.”
Franz Kafka (1883–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Now at last I can look at you in peace, I don't eat you anymore.”
Franz Kafka (1883–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“American troops and American taxpayers are shouldering a huge burden with no end in sight because Mr. Bush took us to war on false premises and with no plan to win the peace.”
Al Gore (born 1948) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: How to Debate George Bush" in The New York Times (29 September 2004).
“If there is love, there is hope that one may have real families, real brotherhood, real equanimity, real peace. If the love within your mind is lost and you see other beings as enemies, then no matter how much knowledge or education or material comfort you have, only suffering and confusion will ensue”
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (born 1935) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Little Book of Buddhism (2000)
“The Tibetan state is located between two of the world's great powers, India and China. Good relations between these powers are crucial for world peace. Tibet has an important role to play.”
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (born 1935) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dalai Lama honours Tintin and Tutu, BBC (Friday, 2 June 2006)
“Time is always moving on; nothing can stop it. We can’t change the past, but we can shape the future. The more compassionate you are, the more you will find inner peace.”
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (born 1935) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Official twitter page of the Office of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Tweet from 8. April 2019 11:30 am. Archived from the original on March 10, 2022 and January 9, 2024.
“Because we all share this small planet earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature. That is not just a dream, but a necessity. We are dependent on each other in so many ways, that we can no longer live in isolated communities and ignore what is happening outside those communities, and we must share the good fortune that we enjoy.”
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I visited Costa Rica earlier this year, I saw how a country can develop successfully without an army, to become a stable democracy committed to peace and the protection of the natural environment. This confirmed my belief that my vision of Tibet in the future is a realistic plan, not merely a dream.”
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama (born 1935) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are socialists because we believe that these rights cannot be fully realised in any society under capitalism, which, as in Britain now, has entrenched by law, the power of Capital over Labour, and subordinated human values to the demand for profit, at the expense of social justice and peace.”
Tony Benn (1925–2014) first seen 1987 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Excerpt from a draft socialist manifesto Benn submitted to the Labour National Executive Committee in 1987. The rights Benn was referring to were one he laid out in the draft manifesto he submitted, such as the “right t…
“Leaders must be optimists. Their vision was beyond the present and set on a future of real peace and true freedom.”
Rudy Giuliani (born 1944) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech before the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York. August 30, 2004.
“He doesn't belong to a race clever enough to split the atom but not clever enough to live at peace with itself.”
John Steinbeck (1902–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Say, whence is the voice that, when anger is burning, Bids the whirl of the tempest to cease? That stirs the vexed soul with an aching — a yearning For the brotherly hand-grip of peace?”
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Last night we owned, with looks forlorn, "Too well the scholar knows There is no rose without a thorn" — But peace is made! We sing, this morn, "No thorn without a rose!" Our Latin lesson is complete: We've learned that Love is Bitter-Sweet!”
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) first seen 1888 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Lesson in Latin (1888), st. 3
“The staircase that leads to God. What does it matter if it is make-believe, if we really climb it? What difference does it make who builds it, or if it is made of marble or word, of brick, stone, or mud? The essential thing is that it be solid and that in climbing it we feel the peace that is inaccessible to those who do not climb it.”
Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) said by 1824 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Chastity enables the soul to breathe a pure air in the foulest places; continence makes her strong, no matter in what condition the body may be; her sway over the senses makes her queenly; her light and peace render her beautiful.”
Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) said by 1824 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The way to make peace is not through governments. It is through people.”
Shimon Peres (1923–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We can no longer expect the one big book, the single achievement, to be an author's claim to posterity's regard. We shall be more inclined to assess the stature of a novelist by his ability to create what the French call an oeuvre, to present fragments of an individual vision in book after book, to build, if not a War and Peace or Ulysses, at least a shelf.”
Anthony Burgess (1917–1993) said by 1993 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Of course some wars may have been necessary or inevitable, but none was ever regarded as holy. For us, a holy war is a contradiction in terms. War dehumanizes, war diminishes, war debases all those who wage it. The Talmud says, "Talmidei hukhamim marbin shalom baolam" (It is the wise men who will bring about peace). Perhaps, because wise men remember best.”
Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A destruction only man can provoke, only man can prevent. Mankind must remember that peace is not God's gift to his creatures, it is our gift to each other.”
Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Learn to get in touch with silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. There are no mistakes, no coincidences; all events are blessings given to us to learn from. There is no need to go to India or anywhere else to find peace. You will find that deep place of silence right in your room, your garden or even your bathtub.”
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926–2004) first seen 1976 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Elisabeth Kübler-Ross: Messenger of Love" by Lennie Kronisch in Yoga Journal, Issue 11, November-December 1976, pp. 18-20
“Our islands must be defended even at the risk of an invasion of this island. If we lose our Sugar Islands it will be impossible to raise money to continue the war and then no peace can be obtained but such a one as He that gave one to Europe in 1763 never can subscribe to.”
George III (1738–1820) first seen 1760 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter No. 2773 to Lord Sandwich (13 September 1779), in The Correspondence of King George the Third from 1760 to December 1783, p. 433
“Unless the French are thoroughly reduced, no solid peace can be obtained, and no attempt ought to be encouraged of opening a negotiation, which even has the effect of destroying all energy in those who ought to look forward to the continuance of war.”
George III (1738–1820) first seen 1795 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Lord Grenville (25 October 1795), quoted in The Manuscripts of J. B. Fortescue, Esq, Volume III (1899), p. 143
“He considered himself to be a thoroughly useless man, taking up space in a world to which he contributed nothing — but he did have a talent for baking… The gas oven might blow up in his face, at last bringing him peace, but if it didn't, he would at least have cookies for Agnes.”
Dean Koontz (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Ukraine is an independent, sovereign state and will choose its own path to peace and security. . . . Such a conversation would be entirely appropriate and entirely possible. I certainly don’t see there being anything particularly tricky here, anything that need or that could cast a shadow over relations between Russia and Ukraine.”
Vladimir Putin (born 1952) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: About Ukraine seeking membership in Nato, after the Nato–Russia Council was created at the Nato summit in Rome, May 28, 2002, quoted in "Russia Must Also Hit the Reset Button", Atlantic Council, 1 April 2009
“Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace? You find it possible to set some limitations in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk to people who are child-killers? No one has a moral right to tell us to talk to childkillers.”
Vladimir Putin (born 1952) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In response to those who called Putin to enter talks with Chechen separatists after the Beslan school hostage crisis, in September 2004
“Russia is open to dialogue with the Ukrainian side, as well as with everyone who wants peace in Ukraine. But under the condition that all Russian demands are met.”
Vladimir Putin (born 1952) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Vladimir Putin says ready for Ukraine dialogue if 'all Russian demands' met", AFP/Moneycontrol, 4 March 2022
“There will be peace when we will achieve our goals.”
Vladimir Putin (born 1952) first seen 2023 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Said in annual Q&A session, quoted in "Putin says there will be no peace in Ukraine until Russia’s goals, still unchanged, are achieved", AP News (14 December 2023)
“If man does find the solution for world peace it will be the most revolutionary reversal of his record we have ever known.”
George C. Marshall (1880–1959) first seen 1945 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff, US Army (1 September 1945)
“I am certain that a solution of the general problem of peace must rest on broad and basic understanding on the part of its peoples. Great single endeavors like a League of Nations, a United Nations, and undertakings of that character, are of great importance and in fact absolutely necessary, but they must be treated as steps toward the desired end.”
George C. Marshall (1880–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even the propagandists on the radio find it very difficult to really say let alone believe that the world will be a happy place, of love and peace and plenty, and that the lion will lie down with the lamb and everybody will believe anybody.”
Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) said by 1946 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source