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Peace quotes

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“When there is no desire, all things are at peace.” Lao Tzu, “Tao Te Ching” - 4th century BC

“Freedom without civility, freedom without the ability to live in peace, was not true freedom at all.” Nelson Mandela, “Long Walk to Freedom” - 1995

“But when he has disposed of foreign enemies by conquest or treaty, and there is nothing to fear from them, then he is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.” Plato, “The Republic”

“Let every one have his own way, and we shall be always at peace.” Michel de Montaigne, “The Essays of Michel de Montaigne” - 1580

“Listen up—there's no war that will end all wars . . . War breeds war.” Haruki Murakami, “Kafka on the Shore” - 2002

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.” Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Self-Reliance” - 1841

“A peace is of the nature of a conquest; for then both parties nobly are subdued, and neither party loser.” William Shakespeare, “Henry IV, Part 2” - 1600

“Is it not sufficient for your infernal selfishness, that while you are at peace I shall writhe in the torments of hell?” Emily Brontë, “Wuthering Heights” - 1847

“I would like to take this opportunity to explain the Zone of Ahimsa or peace sanctuary concept, which is the central element of the Five-Point Peace Plan. I am convinced that it is of great importance not only for Tibet, but for peace and...” 14th Dalai Lama, “Nobel Lecture” - 1989

“For the stability and peace of Asia, it is essential to create peace zones to separate the continent's biggest powers and potential adversaries.” 14th Dalai Lama, “Nobel Lecture” - 1989

“It must be very peaceful, he thought, to lie and slumber and dream forever and ever, with the wind whispering through the trees and caressing the grass and the flowers over the grave, and nothing to bother and grieve about, ever any more.” Mark Twain, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” - 1876

“Many of the boys I saw in hospitals are now leading happy and useful lives, but they carry with them, day after day, the results of the war. If we do not achieve the ends for which they sacrificed—a peaceful world in which there exists freedom...” Eleanor Roosevelt, “The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt” - 1961

“Our object now, as then, is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power and to set up amongst the really free and self-governed peoples of the world such a concert of purpose...” Woodrow Wilson, “We Must Accept War” - 2 April 1917

“The warlike days are over. Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace, and the glories of the great races are as a tale that is told.” Bram Stoker, “Dracula” - 1897

“As the idealism of our youth has served world peace, so can it serve the domestic tranquility.” John F. Kennedy, “State of the Union Address” - 14 January 1963

“He wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of peace; I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee. I said his heaven would be only half alive; and he said mine would be drunk: I said I should fall asleep in his; and he said he could not...” Emily Brontë, “Wuthering Heights” - 1847

“Our peace shall stand as firm as rocky mountains.” William Shakespeare, “Henry IV, Part 2” - 1600

“Our strife pertains to ourselves—to the passing generations of men—and it can without convulsion be hushed forever with the passing of one generation.” Abraham Lincoln, “State of the Union Address” - 1 December 1862

“We thought we would find favor with men for bringing them the Gospel of peace, life, and eternal salvation. Instead of favor, we found fury.” Martin Luther, “Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians” - 1535

“There are two things which a democratic people will always find very difficult—to begin a war, and to end it.” Alexis de Tocqueville, “Democracy in America” - 1840

“This notwithstanding, I will not undertake war, until I have first tried all the ways and means of peace: that I resolve upon.” François Rabelais, “Gargantua and Pantagruel” - 1534

“The moonlight lay everywhere with the natural peace that is granted to no other light.” Franz Kafka, “The Trial” - 1925

“Again, to make peace either in oneself or among others, shows a man to be a follower of God, Who is the God of unity and peace.” Thomas Aquinas, “Summa Theologica” - 1274

“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the trusted foundations of political liberty.” Woodrow Wilson, “We Must Accept War” - 2 April 1917

“In God's name cheerly on, courageous friends, to reap the harvest of perpetual peace by this one bloody trial of sharp war.” William Shakespeare, “Richard III” - 1597

“I feel within me a peace above all earthly dignities, a still and quiet conscience.” William Shakespeare, “Henry VIII” - 1623

“Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forget life, to be at peace.” Oscar Wilde, “The Canterville Ghost” - 1887

“It is in changing that things find repose.” Heraclitus, “On Nature” - c. 535 – c. 475 BCE

“So tell me the secret so I can take it back to Earth and save us all: How can a planet live at peace?” Kurt Vonnegut, “Slaughterhouse-Five” - 1969

“If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.” C. S. Lewis, “Mere Christianity” - 1952

“The common people pray for rain, healthy children, and a summer that never ends . . . It is no matter to them if the high lords play their game of thrones, so long as they are left in peace.” George R. R. Martin, “A Game of Thrones” - 1996

“You can't ever find a place that's nice and peaceful, because there isn't any. You may think there is, but once you get there, when you're not looking, somebody'll sneak up and write 'Fuck you' right under your nose. Try it sometime.” J. D. Salinger, “The Catcher in the Rye” - 1951

“He gave his honours to the world again, his blessed part to heaven, and slept in peace.” William Shakespeare, “Henry VIII” - 1623

“if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other—that man, that woman, that child is my brother, my sister.” Mother Teresa, “Where There Is Love, There Is God” - 2010

“right is more precious than peace” Henry Kissinger, “Diplomacy” - 1994

“only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.” John F. Kennedy, “Inaugural Address” - 20 January 1961

“It is of the greatest important in this world that a man should know himself, and the measure of his own strength and means; and he who knows that he has not a genius for fighting must learn how to govern by the arts of peace.” Niccolò Machiavelli, “The Prince” - 1532

“Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free. True peace with oneself and with the world around us can only be achieved through the development of mental peace.” 14th Dalai Lama, “Nobel Lecture” - 1989

“There must be not only a balance of power, but a community of power; not organized rivalries, but an organized common peace.” Woodrow Wilson, “A World League For Peace” - 22 January 1917

“Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms.” Barack Obama, “Inaugural Address” - 20 January 2009

“And do you know, there's less charm in life, when one thinks of death, but there's more peace.” Leo Tolstoy, “Anna Karenina” - 1877

“Immanuel Kant argued that perpetual peace would eventually come to the world in one of two ways: by human insight or by conflicts and catastrophes of a magnitude that left humanity no other choice.” Henry Kissinger, “On China” - 2011

“The war has made us a nation of great power and intelligence. We have but little to do to preserve peace, happiness and prosperity at home, and the respect of other nations. Our experience ought to teach us the necessity of the first; our power...” Ulysses S. Grant, “Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant” - 1885

“The first branch, of which Rule, containeth the first, and Fundamentall Law of Nature; which is, 'To seek Peace, and follow it.'” Thomas Hobbes, “Leviathan” - 1651

“I am at peace with God, my conflict is with man.” Charlie Chaplin, “My Autobiography” - 1964

“PEACE, n. In international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting.” Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil's Dictionary” - 1906

“If I preached unity, I must act like a unifier, even at the risk of perhaps alienating some of my own colleagues.” Nelson Mandela, “Long Walk to Freedom” - 1995

“The mere absence of war is not peace.” John F. Kennedy, “State of the Union Address” - 14 January 1963

“Those who cherish their freedom and recognize and respect the equal right of their neighbors to be free and live in peace, must work together for the triumph of law and moral principles in order that peace, justice, and confidence may prevail...” Franklin D. Roosevelt, “Quarantine Speech” - 5 October 1937

“My experience has shown me that we win justice quickest by rendering justice to the other party.” Mahatma Gandhi, “The Story of my Experiments with Truth” - 1929

Related topics

war freedom power life God justice democracy reciprocity wisdom death courage fear heart heaven nature people calm envy right unity

Related authors

William Shakespeare (8)
John F. Kennedy (6)
Woodrow Wilson (6)
14th Dalai Lama (3)
Nelson Mandela (2)
Ralph Waldo Emerson (2)
Bram Stoker (2)
Leo Tolstoy (2)
Martin Luther (2)
Ambrose Bierce (2)
Henry Kissinger (2)
Franklin D. Roosevelt (2)
Emily Brontë (2)
Thomas Hobbes (2)
Oscar Wilde (1)
William Faulkner (1)
James Joyce (1)
Mark Twain (1)
George R. R. Martin (1)
Heraclitus (1)

Related sources

State of the Union Address (7)
Henry VIII (3)
Nobel Lecture (3)
A World League For Peace (3)
We Must Accept War (3)
Henry IV, Part 2 (2)
Long Walk to Freedom (2)
Self-Reliance (2)
Dracula (2)
Anna Karenina (2)
Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians (2)
Inaugural Address (2)
The Devil's Dictionary (2)
Quarantine Speech (2)
Wuthering Heights (2)
Leviathan (2)
Romeo and Juliet (1)
Richard III (1)
As I Lay Dying (1)
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1)