A collection of quotes on the topic of wise, peaceful, peace, beauty.
“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”
“Patience is the companion of wisdom.”
Patientia comes est sapientiae
De Patientia http://www.augustinus.it/latino/pazienza/index.htm chapter 5
“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
Source: A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Happiness is the readiness to be happy.”
Aphorism #33
Interglacial (2004)
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…”
“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”
Attributed on the internet but not found in print prior to an attribution in Aero Digest, Vols. 58–59, 1949, p. 115 https://books.google.com/books?id=q2ofAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Life+is+simple%22+but+we+insist+on+making+it+complicated&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=%22Life+is+simple%22+
Misattributed, Not Chinese
'Where Do We Go From Here?" as published in Where Do We Go from Here : Chaos or Community? (1967), p. 62; many statements in this book, or slight variants of them, were also part of his address Where Do We Go From Here?" which has a section below. A common variant appearing at least as early as 1968 has "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence..." An early version of the speech as published in A Martin Luther King Treasury (1964), p. 173, has : "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate..."
1960s
Source: A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches
Context: The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. … Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”
Source: Clippings from My Notebook
“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”
“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”
Book III, ch. 23.
Discourses
“True peace is not merely the absence of war, it is the presence of justice.”
“The richness I achieve comes from nature, the source of my inspiration.”
“Don't gain the world and lose your soul
Wisdom is better than silver and gold.”
Zion Train
Uprising (1979)
“When the power of love overcomes love of power the world will know peace.”
This quote has been attributed to Hendrix on the internet, and is flatly denied to have ever been said by him, without presenting any evidence as to why, beyond such unsupported, derisive and denigrative statements such as the author rants about others making in "WHAT HENDRIX NEVER SAID : They Don't Want to Know What He Really Said and Demand a Slacker Fantasy Instead" (22 March 2010) by Michael Fairchild, at rockprophecy.com http://www.rockprophecy.com/hendrix_quotes_hoax.html. Whether or not he ever spoke them, they are very similar to those reportedly of British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, quoted in The Forbes Book of Business Quotations (1997) edited by Edward C. Goodman and Ted Goodman, p. 639: "We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace." A similar quotation he provides of Sri Chinmoy predates any currently located source of either the Hendrix or Gladstone attributions, yet he accuses Chinmoy of simple plagiarism of Gladstone (or "Gladwell" at one point). From Chinmoy's book My Heart Shall Give A Oneness-Feast (1993) he quotes: "My books, they all have only one message: the heart's Power Of Love must replace the mind's Love Of Power. If I have the Power Of Love, then I shall claim the whole World as my own … World Peace can be achieved when the Power Of Love replaces the Love Of Power." An even earlier statement of Chinmoy is found in Meditations: Food For The Soul (1970): "When the power of love replaces the love of power, man will have a new name: God."
Disputed
Variant: When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Source: I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World
“Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.”
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
Source: Man's Search for Meaning
“There is another world, but it is in this one.”
Il y a assurément un autre monde, mais il est dans celui-ci...
Œuvres complètes, vol. 1, Gallimard, 1968.
“All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child.”
Pierre Curie (1923), as translated by Charlotte Kellogg and Vernon Lyman Kellogg, p. 162
“Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.”
As quoted in The Wright Style (1992) by Carla Lind, p. 3
Variant: To see a World in a grain of sand,
And a Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.
Source: 1800s, Auguries of Innocence (1803), Line 1
“It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.”
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
“We have two ears and one mouth, so we should listen more than we say.”
As quoted in Diogenes Laërtius Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, vii. 23.
Variant translation: The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is that we may listen the more and talk the less.
“World-peace can be achieved when the power of love replaces the love of power.”
Words of Wisdom (2010)
Source: The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
“If there is a good will, there is great way.”
Source: Walden
Source: Kabir, Hajara Muhammad (2010). Northern women development. [Nigeria]. ISBN 978-978-906-469-4. OCLC 890820657 note: 1940s, Male and Female (1949)
“Sometimes you have to pick the gun up to put the Gun down.”
“We make war that we may live in peace.”
“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
“For it is in giving that we receive.”
“Home is the place where, when you have to go there,
They have to take you in.”
"The Death of the Hired Man" (1914)
1910s
Source: The Sense of Wonder (1965)
Context: Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Whatever the vexations or concerns of their personal lives, their thoughts can find paths that lead to inner contentment and to renewed excitement in living. Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt without an original source in her writings, for example in the introduction to It Seems to Me : Selected Letters of Eleanor Roosevelt (2001) by Leonard C. Schlup and Donald W. Whisenhunt, p. 2 http://books.google.com/books?id=UeFWjTMcLZYC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false. But archivists have not been able to find the quote in any of her writings, see the comment from Ralph Keyes in The Quote Verifier above.
Disputed
“A quiet conscience makes one strong!”
The Diary of a Young Girl
Loose paraphrase of Salviati on Day 3 http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/galileo/dialogue3.html: "For when the sun draws up some vapors here, or warms a plant there, it draws these and warms this as if it had nothing else to do. Even in ripening a bunch of grapes, or perhaps just a single grape, it applies itself so effectively that it could not do more even if the goal of all its affairs were just the ripening of this one grape."
Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (1632)
“Those who are possessed by nothing possess everything.”
The Art of Peace (1992)
“If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.”
As quoted in Newsweek (17 October 1977)
“Virtue alone affords everlasting and peace-giving joy”
Sola virtus praestat gaudium perpetuum, securum; etiam si quid obstat, nubium modo intervenit, quae infra feruntur nec umquam diem vincunt.
Letter XXVII
Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium (Moral Letters to Lucilius)
Context: Virtue alone affords everlasting and peace-giving joy; even if some obstacle arise, it is but like an intervening cloud, which floats beneath the sun but never prevails against it.
“Life is to be lived, not controlled.”
“War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.”
As quoted in This I Believe (1954), by Edward R. Murrow, p. 16
Variant: War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.
Source: This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of One Hundred Thoughtful Men and Women
“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace”
The Crisis No. I.
1770s, The American Crisis (1776–1783)
Context: I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel, against the mean principles that are held by the Tories: a noted one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door], with as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, "Well! give me [[peace in my day."
Not a man lives on the continent but fully believes that a separation must some time or other finally take place, and a generous parent should have said, "If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace;" and this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every man to duty.
Source: Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill
“If we surrendered
to earth's intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees.”
Source: Rilke's Book of Hours: Love Poems to God
“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
These are paraphrases of Muir's quote from My First Summer in the Sierra (1911) - the actual quote is listed above: "When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." See Sierra Club explanation http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/misquotes.aspx.
Misattributed
Variant: Tug on anything at all and you'll find it connected to everything else in the universe.
Variant: When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world.
“Going to the mountains is going home.”
"In the Sierra Forests", San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin (part 3 of the 11 part series "Summering in the Sierra") dated July 1875, published 3 August 1875; reprinted in John Muir: Summering in the Sierra, edited by Robert Engberg (University of Wisconsin Press, 1984) page 79
1870s
Variant: Going to the woods is going home.
“If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there'd be peace.”
As quoted in Guitar Player (1 August 2004), and in "Pax Patter" at ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) http://www.abc.net.au/civics/rights/pax.htm
Variant: When we say "War is over if you want it," we mean that if everyone demanded peace instead of another TV set, we'd have peace.
Variant translation: Until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things, man will not himself find peace.
Variant translation: Until we extend the circle of compassion to all living things, we will not ourselves find peace.
Kulturphilosophie (1923)
“The next message you need is always right where you are.”
“Nature is pleased with simplicity. And nature is no dummy”
“A people free to choose will always choose peace.”
Variant: A people free to choose will always choose peace
“I believe in God, only I spell it "Nature."”
As quoted in Quote magazine (14 August 1966)
Source: Truth Against the World: Frank Lloyd Wright Speaks for an Organic Architecture
“Peace of mind comes from not wanting to change others.”
Source: Love Is Letting Go of Fear
“An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot”
1790s, Agrarian Justice (1797)
Source: Common Sense, The Rights of Man and Other Essential Writings
Context: An army of principles will penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot; it will succeed where diplomatic management would fall: it is neither the Rhine, the Channel, nor the ocean that can arrest its progress: it will march on the horizon of the world, and it will conquer.
“no expectations, no disappointments!”
Sleeping with Strangers
Voice of America broadcast (11 November 1951)
“If there is to be any peace it will come through being, not having.”
“All we are saying is give peace a chance!”
"Give Peace a Chance"
Lyrics
Variant: Give Peace a Chance.
“One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.”
Variant: The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.
Source: A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living
“I have decided to stick to love… Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
Source: A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches
“We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.”
“It is not peace that I seek, but life.”
Ce n'est pas la paix que je cherche, c'est la vie.
Jean-Christophe (1904 - 1912), Journey's End: The Burning Bush (1911)
“First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.”
Book II, ch. 3.
The Imitation of Christ (c. 1418)
“I still believe that peace and plenty and happiness can be worked out some way. I am a fool.”
Source: Jailbird (1979), p. 14
“If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.”
Mother Teresa Reflects on Working Toward Peace, ( essay, Santa Clara University, https://legacy.scu.edu/ethics/architects-of-peace/Teresa/essay.html retrieved August 2012).
2010s
As quoted in Flicker to Flame : Living with Purpose, Meaning, and Happiness (2006) by Jeffrey Thompson Parker, p. 118
This quotation is likely a modern paraphrasing of a longer passage from Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, II.43.3.
“Looking at beauty in the world, is the first step of purifying the mind.”
Meditation:Insights and Inspirations (2010) https://books.google.com/books?id=s2ctBgAAQBAJ,
“There are no more worlds to conquer!”
Statement portrayed as a quotation in a 1927 Reader's Digest article, this probably derives from traditions about Alexander lamenting at his father Philip's victories that there would be no conquests left for him, or that after his conquests in Egypt and Asia there were no worlds left to conquer.
Some of the oldest accounts of this, as quoted by John Calvin state that on "hearing that there were other worlds, wept that he had not yet conquered one."
This may originate from Plutarch's essay On the Tranquility of Mind, part of the essays Moralia: Alexander wept when he heard Anaxarchus discourse about an infinite number of worlds, and when his friends inquired what ailed him, "Is it not worthy of tears," he said, "that, when the number of worlds is infinite, we have not yet become lords of a single one?"
There are no more other worlds to conquer!
Variant attributed as his "last words" at a few sites on the internet, but in no published sources.
Disputed
Source: http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/De_tranquillitate_animi*.html
“We see the world not as it is, but as we are.”
Dag Redwing hickory Bluefield
Passage (Vol. III in Tetralogy) (2008), p. 163
The Sharing Knife, Passage (Vol. III in Tetralogy) (2008)
“None of it is important or all of it is.”
Introduction
The Log from the Sea of Cortez (1951)
Context: "... Let us go," we said, "into the Sea of Cortez, realizing that we become forever a part of it; that our rubber boots slogging through a flat of eel-grass, that the rocks we turn over in a tide pool, make us truly and permanently a factor in the ecology of the region. We shall take something away from it, but we shall leave something too." And if we seem a small factor in a huge pattern, nevertheless it is of relative importance. We take a tiny colony of soft corals from a rock in a little water world. And that isn't terribly important to the tide pool. Fifty miles away the Japanese shrimp boats are dredging with overlapping scoops, bringing up tons of shrimps, rapidly destroying the species so that it may never come back, and with the species destroying the ecological balance of the whole region. That isn't very important in the world. And thousands of miles away the great bombs are falling and the stars are not moved thereby. None of it is important or all of it is.
https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/896523357272911872 Speaking via twitter on August 13, 2017 in response to the 2017 Unite the Right rally in harlottesville, Virginia and quoting Nelson Mandela. Archived via Wayback Machine on August 14, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170814133749/https:/twitter.com/BarackObama/status/896523357272911872. Source: Bipartisan condemnation for 'Unite the Right' rally by CNN's Jennifer Hansler on August 13, 2017 http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/12/politics/parties-condemn-white-nationalist-rally/index.html. Archived via Wayback Machine on August 14, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170814134330/http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/12/politics/parties-condemn-white-nationalist-rally/index.html.
2017
Variant: Madiba reminds us that: “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart.”
'Where Do We Go From Here?" as published in Where Do We Go from Here : Chaos or Community? (1967), p. 62; many statements in this book, or slight variants of them, were also part of his address Where Do We Go From Here?" which has a section below. A common variant appearing at least as early as 1968 has "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence..." An early version of the speech as published in A Martin Luther King Treasury (1964), p. 173, has : "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate..."
1960s
Context: The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. … Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ”
