

„Az erőszak előbb utóbb kimerül önmagától, de ebből a kimerültségből nem születhet béke.”
Beszéde a Nobel-békedíj átvételekor (1964)
Eredeti: Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time — the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts… Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
„Az erőszak előbb utóbb kimerül önmagától, de ebből a kimerültségből nem születhet béke.”
Eredeti: It is the law of love that rules mankind. Had violence, i.e. hate, ruled us we should have become extinct long ago. And yet, the tragedy of it is that the so-called civilized men and nations conduct themselves as if the basis of society was violence.
Eredeti: Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence.
Eredeti: In the secret of my heart I am in perpetual quarrel with God that He should allow such things [as the war] to go on. My non-violence seems almost impotent. But the answer comes at the end of the daily quarrel that neither God nor non-violence is impotent. Impotence is in men. I must try on without losing faith even though I may break in the attempt.
„Három óra: mindig túl kései, vagy túl korai időpont ahhoz, amit az ember éppen csinálni akar.”
Neki tulajdonított idézetek