Quotes about peace

No, my boys, no! Don't accustom your spirits to wars of such huge scope,

Don't use your strength and your vigour to disembowel your country!

There is no salvation in war.

No doubt, there was peace after all this, but it was a peace stained with blood.

And his will is our peace.

I learned long ago that, when anyone spoke of peace, be it man or machine, they meant war. Peace through war. Peace was the standard. It was the inert state of all things. You didn’t need to expend energy for peace. Only war.

They wanted peace and they fought for thirty years to be sure of it. They did not learn then, and have not learned since, that war only breeds war.

The only real route to peace is through self-purification. We must purge ourselves of our own pride, our need to control, and our unwillingness to suffer for the sake of others. Peacemaking begins inside each of us.

When there is no one else left to fight, then there will be nothing left but peace.

Enlightenment and peace can never be achieved by force.

Now their long war was over and they could get on with the proper concern of civilized nations, which is to prepare for the next one. (p. 193)

Peace, though beloved of our Lord, is a cardinal virtue only if your neighbors share your conscience.

“Nothing lasts,” he said, his voice guttural with age and remembered pain. “Neither knowledge, nor skill, nor family, nor the bond between master and student. In another thousand years I will be gone. And in time you both will pass as well, and this place will be dust. For all that we pride ourselves on our power and our length of years, Prince Kai, ultimately dragons too are as fleeting as fireflies. There was a time when we never existed; there will also come a time when nobody will remember us. War changes to peace. But, ultimately, peace collapses into war and the cycle continues.”

“I’ve told you before, sir, you will be remembered as long as my fathers kingdom lasts.” Shan Yuan spoke with affection, clearly repeating an old reassurance.

“That’s not as reassuring as you might think.”