“When I look back on my childhood, I think of that short time in Beirut. I know that seeing the city collapse around me forced me to grasp something many people miss: the fragility of peace.”
Peace is more than the absence of war — it is a state of mind, a way of relating to others, and a goal worth pursuing even when it seems impossible. These quotes explore inner peace, world peace, and everything in between.
“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty.”
“When I look back on my childhood, I think of that short time in Beirut. I know that seeing the city collapse around me forced me to grasp something many people miss: the fragility of peace.”
“If we desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it if we desire to secure peace, one of the most powerful instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be known, that we are at all times ready for War.”
“Our object should be peace within, and peace without. We want to live peacefully and maintain cordial friendly relations with our immediate neighbours and with the world at large.”
“The choice, however, is as clear now for nations as it was once for the individual: peace or extinction.”
“Peace, above all things, is to be desired, but blood must sometimes be spilled to obtain it on equable and lasting terms.”
“In the Peace Corps, the volunteer must be a fully developed, mature person. He must not join to run abroad or escape problems.”
“Piety is not a goal but a means to attain through the purest peace of mind the highest culture.”
“Even though now I'm pretty popular in my country and tennis is the No. 1 sport, and I'm very flattered that the people recognise me and come up and give me compliments, I'm more a person who likes to have privacy and peace.”
“I know that. I'm having a ball. I'm not slap happy. I'm just filled up with joy and with peace and with all kinds of things that have eluded me for quite a few years. And they're back and they're thriving.”
“Let us not deceive ourselves we must elect world peace or world destruction.”
“I cannot imagine any writer who would not fight for his peace and quiet.”
“I took a speed-reading course and read War and Peace in twenty minutes. It involves Russia.”
“Certainly, protecting oppressed people, stopping ethnic conflict and promoting responsible governance are worthy goals. But none is as important for American security and prosperity as keeping the peace in the Middle East, Europe and East Asia.”
“We receive His peace when we ask Him for it. We keep His peace by extending it to others. Those are the keys and there are no others.”
“But in terms of how people live together, how we minimize the prospects of conflict and maximize the prospects of peace, the place of religion in our society today is essential.”