“I declare peace the greatest work of art.”
Wolf Vostell (1932–1998) German painter and sculptor
Wolf Vostell (1980) Wolf Vostell : de-collagen; Verwischungen. p. 23
Original: Ich erkläre den Frieden zum größten Kunstwerk.
The last sentence of this quote is incised in marble on the wall of the United States House of Representatives chamber, directly behind the Speaker's chair (with the word "develop" spelled with a final "e").
Address on Laying the Cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument (1825)
Context: Our proper business is improvement. Let our age be the age of improvement. In a day of peace, let us advance the arts of peace and the works of peace. Let us develop the resources of our land, call forth its powers, build up its institutions, promote all its great interests, and see whether we also, in our day and generation, may not perform something worthy to be remembered.
“I declare peace the greatest work of art.”
Wolf Vostell (1932–1998) German painter and sculptor
Wolf Vostell (1980) Wolf Vostell : de-collagen; Verwischungen. p. 23
Original: Ich erkläre den Frieden zum größten Kunstwerk.
Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885) 18th President of the United States
Accepting the Republican Party's nomination for the U.S. presidency (29 May 1868).
1860s
Variant: Let us have peace.
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) 32nd President of the United States
1940s, Fourth inaugural address (1945)
Hu Jintao (1942) former General Secretary of the Communist Party of China
2000s, White House speech (2006)
Context: Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, the 21st century has entrusted people around the world with a lasting historic mission: That is to maintain world peace, promote common development and create a brighter future for mankind. Let us work together with the international community to build a world of enduring peace, common prosperity and harmony. Thank you once again, Mr. President, for your warm welcome.
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America
1963, UN speech
Context: But peace does not rest in charters and covenants alone. It lies in the hearts and minds of all people. And if it is cast out there, then no act, no pact, no treaty, no organization can hope to preserve it without the support and the wholehearted commitment of all people. So let us not rest all our hopes on parchment and on paper; let us strive to build peace, a desire for peace, a willingness to work for peace, in the hearts and minds of all our people. I believe that we can. I believe the problems of human destiny are not beyond the reach of human beings.
“If we can't live in peace, then let's die in peace.”
Jim Jones (1931–1978) founder and the leader of the Peoples Temple
" Death Tape http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/AboutJonestown/Tapes/Tapes/DeathTape/Q042fbi.html" FBI No. Q042 (18 November 1978)
“Let the peace of this day be here tomorrow when I wake up.”
Thomas Pynchon book Gravity's Rainbow
Source: Gravity's Rainbow
“…the inglorious arts of peace…”
Andrew Marvell (1621–1678) English metaphysical poet and politician
Upon Cromwell's Return from Ireland (1650)
“If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace”
Thomas Paine (1737–1809) English and American political activist
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.