An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind

Quotes about Peace

"The sporadic crimes that soil the front pages, the daily robberies, assaults, rapes and murders, are the work of individuals and small gangs. But the great evils, the persecutions, the unjust wars of conquest, the mass slaughters of the innocent, the exploitation of whole social classes--these crimes are committed by the organized community under the leadership of respectable citizens."

-- Paul Hanley Furfey, the Catholic University sociologist

"America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can lead the way in the revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war."

-- Martin Luther King

"A leader is best when people barely know that he exists, less good when they obey and acclaim him, worse when they fear and despise him. Fail to honor people and they fail to honor you. But of a good leader, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say, 'We did this ourselves.' "

-- Lao-Tzu

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world."

-- Gandhi

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

-- Abraham Lincoln

". . . Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out hate; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. . . The chain reaction of evil -- hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars -- must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."

-- Martin Luther King, Strength to Love, 1963, p. 5

"At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love."

-- Martin Luther King

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."

-- Martin Luther King

"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

"You think that good is hating what is bad. What is bad is the hating mind itself."

-- Bon Kai (Buddhist monk)

"People try nonviolence for a week, and when it 'doesn't work,' they go back to violence, which hasn't worked for centuries."

-- Theodore Roszak

A cornerstone upon which all great faiths are built is that compassion towards others is the truest expression of the divine.

-- Marti Sinclair

Buddhism:

"Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful."

-- Udana-Varga, 5:18

Christianity:

"All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."

-- Matthew 7:12

Confucianism:

"Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you."

-- Analects 15:23

Hinduism:

"This is the sum of duty: do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you."

-- Mahabharata 5:1517

Islam:

"No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself."

-- Sunnah ["Sunnah" - the 13th of the 42 traditions, the sayings, actions and approvals of the Prophet Muhammad)

Judaism:

"What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the law: all the rest is commentary."

-- Talmud, Shabbat 31a

Native American:

"Respect for all life is the foundation."

-- The Great Law of Peace, Six Nations to the Confederation of Iriquois Nations

Wiccans have one fundamental ethical precept:

"An (if) it harm none, do what you will."

This honors the great freedom that each individual has to ascertain truth, to experience the Divine directly, and to determine how to best live her or his own life. With that freedom, however, comes a profound responsibility that none may be harmed by one's choices and actions.

-- Dadistan-i-Dinik, 94:5

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

-- John F. Kennedy

Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.

-- Martin Luther King

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