Quotes about conflict
page 13

Thomas Hylland Eriksen photo

“Many social scientists, including anthropologists, have been interested in the power inherent in gender relations, often described through the idiom of female oppression. It can be argued that men usually tend to exert more power over women than vice versa. In most societies, men generally hold the most important political and religious positions, and very often men control the formal economy. In some societies, it may even be prescribed for women to cover their body and face when they appear in the public sphere, and, paradoxically, these practices sometimes become more common as their societies become more modern. On the other hand, women are often capable of exerting considerable informal power, not least in the domestic sphere. Anthropologists cannot state unequivocally that women are oppressed before they have investigated all aspects of their society, including how the women (and men) themselves perceive their situation. One cannot dismiss the possibility that certain women in western Asia (the Middle East) see the ‘liberated’ western woman as more oppressed – by professional career pressure, demands to look good and other expectations – than themselves.
When studying societies undergoing change, which perhaps most anthropologists do today, it is important to look at the value conflicts and tensions between different interest groups that are particularly central. Often these conflicts are expressed through gender relations.”

Thomas Hylland Eriksen (1962) Norwegian social anthropologist and professor

Source: What is Anthropology? (2nd ed., 2017), Ch. 2 : Key Concepts

Marilyn Ferguson photo

“Conflict, pain, tension, fear, paradox... these are transformations trying to happen. Once we confront them, the transformative process begins.”

Marilyn Ferguson (1938–2008) American writer

The Aquarian Conspiracy (1980), Chapter Three, Brains Changing, Minds Changing

Marilyn Ferguson photo
Thabo Mbeki photo

“Despite the advances we have made in our 12 years of freedom, we must also recognise the reality that we still have a long way to go... We should never allow ourselves the dangerous luxury of complacency, believing that we are immune to the conflicts that we see and have seen in so many parts of the world.”

Thabo Mbeki (1942) South African politician, President of South Africa

The Fourth Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture Address, Johannesburg, South Africa https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/the-fourth-nelson-mandela-annual-lecture-address (29 July 2006)

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar photo

“The history of India is a history of mortal conflict between Buddhism and Brahmanism.”

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) Father of republic India, champion of human rights, father of India's Constitution, polymath, revolutionary…

As quoted in The Radical in Ambedkar: Critical Reflections

Marilyn Ferguson photo
Dietrich Bonhoeffer photo
Marilyn Ferguson photo

“It seems, moreover, that my argument has some relevance to choices we must make even now. There are some species of large predatory animals, such as the Siberian tiger, that are currently on the verge of extinction. If we do nothing to preserve it, the Siberian tiger as a species may soon become extinct. The number of extant Siberian tigers has been low for a considerable period. Any ecological disruption occasioned by their dwindling numbers has largely already occurred or is already occurring. If their number in the wild declines from several hundred to zero, the impact of their disappearance on the ecology of the region will be almost negligible. Suppose, however, that we could repopulate their former wide-ranging habitat with as many Siberian tigers as there were during the period in which they flourished in their greatest numbers, and that that population could be sustained indefinitely. That would mean that herbivorous animals in the extensive repopulated area would again, and for the indefinite future, live in fear and that an incalculable number would die in terror and agony while being devoured by a tiger. In a case such as this, we may actually face the kind of dilemma I called attention to in my article, in which there is a conflict between the value of preserving existing species and the value of preventing suffering and early death for an enormously large number of animals.”

Jeff McMahan (philosopher) (1954) American philosopher

" Predators: A Response https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/predators-a-response/", The New York Times, 28 Sept. 2010

William Lane Craig photo

“Ideological hegemony is the process by which the exploited come to view the world through a conceptual framework provided to them by their exploiters. It acts first of all to conceal class conflict and exploitation behind a smokescreen of "national unity" or "general welfare."”

Kevin Carson (1963) American academic

Those who point to the role of the state as guarantor of class privilege are denounced, in theatrical tones of moral outrage, for "class warfare."
"The Iron Fist Behind the Invisible Hand: Capitalism As a State-Guaranteed System of Privilege" (2011)

John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton photo

“[I]t will not do to act as if the moral question was not the supreme question in public life, and, in a sense, the vera causa of party conflict.”

John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton (1834–1902) British politician and historian

Letter to William Ewart Gladstone (21 November 1891), quoted in J. N. Figgis and R. V. Laurence (eds.), Selections from the Correspondence of the First Lord Acton, Vol. I (1917), p. 257
1890s

Jacques Ellul photo

“Jesus does not advocate revolt or material conflict. ... He reverses the question, and as so often challenges his interlocutors: "But you ... it must not be the same among you."”

In other words, do not be so concerned about fighting kings. Let them be. Set up a marginal society which will not be interested in such things, in which there will be no power, authority or hierarchy. Do not do things as they are usually done in society, which you cannot change. Create another society on another foundation.

p. 62
Anarchy and Christianity (1988)

“Interestingly enough an academic conflict is going on between those who do not wish to tamper with facts (Mohammad Habib, S.S.A. Rizvi) and those who are determined to give a benign face to Islam.”

Mohammad Mujeeb (1902–1985)

I.H. Qureshi, Mohammad Mujeeb, Ashgahar Ali Engineer

Lal, K. S. (2002). Return to roots: Emancipation of Indian Muslims. New Delhi: Radha.(9)

Mark Manson photo
Zaman Ali photo
Henry Way Kendall photo
João Goulart photo
John Albert Broadus photo

“Our fathers, in New England, in the Middle Colonies, and in the South, brought African slaves to America for reasons of their own, which it is impossible to justify, and useless now to censure. The God of our fathers has set them free by overruling a vast amount of human selfishness and passion in long-continued political and military conflict. Let the dead past bury its dead. Forgetting the things which are behind, let us reach forth to those things which are before.”

John Albert Broadus (1827–1895) American pastor and theologian

"As to the Colored People" (1 February 1883), as quoted in Report on Slavery and Racism in the History of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary https://sbts-wordpress-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/sbts/uploads/2018/12/Racism-and-the-Legacy-of-Slavery-Report-v4.pdf#page=6 (December 2018), by R. Albert Mohler, Jr., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, pp. 38–39

Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury photo
Robert G. Ingersoll photo

“These men are the enemies of science—of intellectual progress. They ridicule and calumniate the great thinkers. They deny everything that conflicts with the “sacred Scriptures.””

Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) Union United States Army officer

They still believe in the astronomy of Joshua and the geology of Moses. They believe in the miracles of the past, and deny the demonstrations of the present. They are the foes of facts—the enemies of knowledge. A desire to be happy here, they regard as wicked and worldly—but a desire to be happy in another world, as virtuous and spiritual.
The Truth (1896)

Mohammad Al Gergawi photo

“We believe that we in the UAE and in Dubai have a mission. This region needs a puller from its misery. There is tremendous conflict. There is a lot of hatred, sectarian war, religious war, ethnic cleanses, refugees. We see the story. Then you come to Dubai.”

Mohammad Al Gergawi (1963) Minister of Cabinet Affairs of the United Arab Emirates and the Chairman of the Executive Office in Dubai.

As quoted in Oil won’t last forever, so Dubai is betting big on science and tech http://Oil%20won’t%20last%20forever,%20so%20Dubai%20is%20betting%20big%20on%20science%20and%20tech in Popular Science ( 16 MAY, 2017)
2017
Source: https://www.popsci.com/dubai-science-tech-innovation/

“... Freud in fact defines hysteria as the conflict of two incompatible wishes, as Hegel defined tragedy as the conflict of two incompatible necessities.”

Stanley Edgar Hyman (1918–1970) American literary critic

[The Tangled Bank: Darwin, Marx, Frazer and Freud as Imaginative Writers, New York, Atheneum, 1962, ; 492 p.] [2nd edition, 1974, https://books.google.com/books?id=Fm8fAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=conflict] (p. 312)

Nicolai Dubinin photo

“There are always differences that can be brought to the fore and provide reasons for disagreement. But it seems to me there's nothing insurmountable now – no sharp conflicts and confrontations, thank God.”

Nicolai Dubinin (1973) Russian Roman Catholic bishop

Russian bishop sees positive signs for Church https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/13469/russian-bishop-sees-positive-signs-for-church (15 October 2020)

Robert Menzies photo

“If I have tried to observe the personal courtesies of public life, it is not because I fail to hate the political enemy’s creed. If I have sought to find some humour in the conflict, it is not because I under-estimate the gravity of the battle. The best years of my life have been given to what I deeply believe is a struggle for freedom.”

Robert Menzies (1894–1978) Australian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia

1949 election campaign speech https://electionspeeches.moadoph.gov.au/speeches/1949-robert-menzies, delivered in Melbourne on November 10, 1949
Wilderness Years (1941-1949)

John Dewey photo
Michael J. Sandel photo
George Herbert photo

“It (my book) is a picture of the many spiritual conflicts that have passed between God and my soul, before I could subject mine to the will of Jesus, my Master, in whose service I have now found perfect freedom.”

George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh-born English poet, orator and Anglican priest

Maycock, A L, Nicholas Ferrar of Little Gidding. SPCK, London, 1938
Letter to Nicholas Ferrar (1632-33)

Paulo Coelho photo

“They teach their children: ‘Don’t get involved in conflicts, you’ll only lose.”

Manuscript Found in Accra (2012), The Defeated Ones

Roh Moo-hyun photo

“I hope to see the kind of political culture that solves problems through dialogue and compromise, not through confrontation and conflict.”

Roh Moo-hyun (1946–2009) 9th President of the Republic of Korea

Excerpts from inaugural address (25 February 2003)

Robert Kocharyan photo

“An unduly unfair peace cannot be lasting and sustainable. I want to end this conflict, and we must find a solution which which will be fair.”

Robert Kocharyan (1954) second President of Armenia

As quoted in an 2021 interview with Vladimir Pozner in "Robert Kocharyan: An unfair peace can not be lasting and sustainable" in Hyetert.org (6 April 2021) https://hyetert.org/2021/04/06/robert-kocharyan-an-unfair-peace-can-not-be-lasting-and-sustainable/

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Mwanandeke Kindembo photo
Michael Moorcock photo

“I have never had trouble with conflicting interpretations of my work. Once the story is published, it belongs to the reader.”

Michael Moorcock (1939) English writer, editor, critic

Introduction (p. viii)
The Wrecks of Time aka The Rituals of Infinity (1967)

Ivica Dačić photo

“There is no doubt that we have a different vision of the past. What’s important is that I see no reasons for any kind of conflicts in the future. We have no interests that could be contradictory in the future.”

Ivica Dačić (1966) Serbian politician

Source: "Ivica Dacic: Forced solutions don’t lead to stability of the region" in The Srpska Times https://thesrpskatimes.com/ivica-dacic-forced-solutions-dont-lead-to-stability-of-the-region/ (18 September 2018)

Rajiv Malhotra photo
Leopold II of Belgium photo

“A People which is content with its homeland and which shreds at even the shadow of a conflict lacks the characteristics of a superior race.”

Leopold II of Belgium (1835–1909) King of the Belgians

Source: BBC Documentary based on Adam Hochschild's 'King Leopold's Ghost'
Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death

Peter F. Drucker photo
Wojciech Polak photo

“One cannot expect the believers to deny one of the foundations of their faith, which is respect for every form of life, from conception to natural death. However, we cannot forget the commandment to love thy neighbour. It is the moral duty of a Christian to de-escalate conflicts, not fuel them.”

Wojciech Polak (1964) Polish priest

Source: Primate of Poland calls for de-escalation of abortion protests https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/primate-of-poland-calls-for-de-escalation-of-abortion-protests-17105 (27 October 2020)

Nassim Nicholas Taleb photo
A. C. Grayling photo

“But in vitriolic conflicts there is neither appropriateness nor proportion, so the arguments of history and justice become lost in vengeance.”

A. C. Grayling (1949) English philosopher

Source: Life, Sex, and Ideas: The Good Life Without God (2002), Chapter 30, “Anger” (p. 122)

“Before discussing specific situations and conflicts it is essential to acknowledge that problems can be solved only after the primacy of conscience has been recognized.”

"Tai Ji Men Dizi as Global Ambassadors of Good Will" https://bitterwinter.org/tai-ji-men-dizi-global-ambassadors-of-good-will/

Edward Bellamy photo

“We must retain the positive values of our culture and use them to bring people to God. The habits of revenge and conflicts among tribes must be stopped. Love your neighbors and put your faith in Christ.”

Eduardus Sangsun (1943–2008) Indonesian bishop (1943-2008)

Diocese of Ruteng Welcomes New Bishop https://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/1985/04/24/diocese-of-ruteng-welcomes-new-bishop&post_id=32959 (24 April 1985)

Scott Morrison photo

“None of us want conflict. We want peace and stability. But nor do we want the very world order that underpins our freedoms to be eroded for fear of giving offence, in the vain hope that concessions will ameliorate the determination of those who seek to intimidate and coerce.”

Scott Morrison (1968) 30th Prime Minister of Australia

"An Address by Prime Minister Scott Morrison" https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/address-prime-minister-scott-morrison (7 March 2022)

Kendrick Lamar photo

“I remembered you was conflicted
Misusing your influence, sometimes I did the same
Abusing my power full of resentment
Resentment that turned into a deep depression
Found myself screamin' in the hotel room”

Kendrick Lamar (1987) American rapper, songwriter and record producer from California

Song lyrics, To Pimp a Butterfly (2015)

Robert Menzies photo

“A national election campaign is not a conflict of self-interest, with the prize going to the highest bidder. It is an occasion for a re-statement of faith, a renewal of zeal, and a clear vision of the future.”

Robert Menzies (1894–1978) Australian politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia

Election speech, Canterbury, Victoria, 29 October, 1958 https://electionspeeches.moadoph.gov.au/speeches/1958-robert-menzies
Second Term as Prime Minister (1949-1966)

“There’s no such thing as a theatrical troupe without conflicts.”

C. L. Moore (1911–1987) American author

Source: Doomsday Morning (1957), Chapter 11 (p. 87)

Teal Swan photo
Teal Swan photo