When we can’t find peace in ourselves it is vain to look for it elsewhere.
—Common Proverb
Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
The man who consecrates his hours by vigorous effort, and an honest aim, at once he draws the sting of life and Death; he walks with nature; and her paths are peace.
—Edward Young (1683–1765) English Poet
For every force there is a counterforce. Violence, even well intentioned, always rebounds upon itself.
—Laozi (fl.6th Century BCE) Chinese Philosopher, Sage
God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things which should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
—Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) American Christian Theologian
If our hours were all serene, we might probably take almost as little note of them as the dial does of those that are clouded.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Peace is the deliberate adjustment of my life to the will of God.
—Indian Proverb
A man with too much ambition cannot sleep in peace.
—African Proverb
Reshape yourself through the power of your will… Those who have conquered themselves…live in peace, alike in cold and heat, pleasure and pain, praise and blame…To such people a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same…Because they are impartial, they rise to great heights.
—The Bhagavad Gita Hindu Scripture
Do not let your peace depend on the hearts of men; whatever they say about you, good or bad, you are not because of it another man, for as you are, you are.
—Thomas a Kempis (1379–1471) German Religious Priest, Writer
War makes thieves, and peace hangs them.
—Scottish Proverb
Peace is normally a great good, and normally it coincides with righteousness, but it is righteousness and not peace which should bind the conscience of a nation as it should bind the conscience of an individual; and neither a nation nor an individual can surrender conscience to another’s keeping.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
You may either win your peace or buy it: win it, by resistance to evil; buy it, by compromise with evil.
—John Ruskin (1819–1900) English Writer, Art Critic
They make a wilderness and call it peace.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading.
—Indian Proverb
Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can … As a peace-maker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
‘Tis death to me, to be at enmity; I hate it, and desire all good men’s love.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
When the wish for peace is genuine, the means for finding it is giving in a form each mind that seeks for it in honesty can understand.
—Helen Schucman (1909–81) American Psychologist, Christian Author
Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
A peace is of the nature of a conquest; for then both parties nobly are subdued, and neither party loses.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
We’ve learned how to destroy, but not to create; how to waste, but not to build; how to kill men, but not how to save them; how to die, but seldom how to live.
—Omar Bradley (1893–1981) American Military Leader
Forgiveness is an inner correction that lightens the heart. It is for our peace of mind first. Being at peace, we will now have peace to give to others, and this is the most permanent and valuable gift we can possibly give.
—Gerald Jampolsky (b.1925) American Psychiatrist
Set peace of mind as your highest goal and organize your entire life around it.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
I prefer the most unfair peace to the most righteous war.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
God is a peaceful ground of being. He is the energy of nonviolence. To ask Him to help is to ask Him to turn us into profoundly peaceful people.
—Marianne Williamson (b.1952) American Activist, Author, Lecturer
Your nature is truth, and when you oppose it, you don’t feel like yourself. Stress never feels as natural as peace does.
—Byron Katie (b.1942) American Speaker, Author
They imply, first of all, that it must be a peace without victory. It is not pleasant to say this. I beg that I may be permitted to put my own interpretation upon it and that it may be understood that no other interpretation was in my thought. I am seeking only to face realities and to face them without soft concealments. Victory would mean peace forced upon the loser, a victor’s terms imposed upon the vanquished. It would be accepted in humiliation, under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which terms of peace would rest, not permanently, but only as upon quicksand. Only a peace between equals can last, only a peace the very principle of which is equality and a common participation in a common benefit. The right state of The Mind right feeling between nations, is as necessary for a lasting peace as is the just settlement of vexed questions of territory or of racial and national allegiance.
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American Head of State
Silence fertilizes the deep place where personality grows. A life with a peaceful center can weather all storms.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
Five enemies of peace inhabit with us—avarice, ambition, envy, anger, and pride; if these were to be banished, we should infallibly enjoy perpetual peace.
—Petrarch (1304–74) Italian Scholar, Poet, Humanist
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
If you want to make peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.
—Moshe Dayan (1915–81) Israeli Soldier, Statesman
Harmony is one phase of the law whose spiritual expression is love.
—James Lane Allen (1849–1925) American Novelist, Short Story Writer
A bad peace is better than a good war.
—Russian Proverb
A time will come when a politician who has willfully made war and promoted international dissension will be as sure of the dock and much surer of the noose than a private homicide. It is not reasonable that those who gamble with men’s lives should not stake their own.
—H. G. Wells (1866–1946) English Novelist, Historian, Social Thinker
Peace is not something you wish for; it’s something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away!
—Robert Fulghum (b.1937) American Unitarian Universalist Author, Essayist, Clergyman
What all men are really after is some form, or perhaps only some formula, of peace.
—Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) Polish-born British Novelist
The rebel can never find peace. He knows what is good and, despite himself, does evil. The value which supports him is never given to him once and for all—he must fight to uphold it, unceasingly.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Who is blind, dumb and deaf will live a peaceful life of a hundred years.
—Sicilian Proverb
Tranquil pleasures last the longest; we are not fitted to bear long the burden of great joys.
—Christian Nestell Bovee (1820–1904) American Writer, Aphorist
It just was a gradual development over the years. I mean last year was ‘all you need is Love.’ This year, it’s ‘all you need is Love and peace, baby.’ Give peace a chance, and remember Love. The only hope for us is peace. Violence begets violence. You can have peace as soon as you like if we all pull together. You’re all geniuses, and you’re all beautiful. You don’t need anyone to tell you who you are. You are what you are. Get out there and get peace, think peace, and live peace and breathe peace, and you’ll get it as soon as you like.
—John Lennon (1940–80) British Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Activist
Lord, make us instruments of Thy peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
—Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) Italian Monk, Founder of the Franciscan Order
Peace is the well from which the stream of joy runs.
—Scottish Proverb
Peace won by the compromise of principles is a short-lived achievement.
—Unknown
War on the other hand is such a terrible thing, that no man, especially a Christian man, has the right to assume the responsibility of starting it.
—Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) Russian Novelist
You will give yourself peace of mind if you perform every act of your life as if it were you last.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
Let us ever remember that our interest is in concord, not in conflict; and that our real eminence rests in the victories of peace, not those of war.
—William McKinley (1843–1901) American Republican Statesman, 25th President
Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Peace is more precious than a piece of land.
—Anwar el-Sadat (1918–81) Egyptian Head of State, Political leader
It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet, I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.
—Anne Frank (1929–45) Holocaust Victim