Peace Quotes
Love peace above all,
Love peace as you love the Lord Himself.
Let nothing be dearer to you
Than peace and mutual love
St. John of Kronstadt
Acquire the spirit of Peace
And thousands around you
Will be healed.
Seraphim of Sarov
Peace between neighbors,
Peace between kindred,
Peace between lovers,
In love of the King of life.
Peace between person and person,
Peace between wife and husband,
Peace between woman and children,
The peace of Christ above all peace.
Ancient Celtic
The Hebrides
Flowers every night
Blossom in the sky,
Peace in the Infinite,
At peace am I.
Jalal-Ud-Din Rumi
Persia 1207-1273
Your love
Is in heaven
And your truth
So perfect.
I live in sorrow
Imprisoned.
You are my light,
Your glory my support.
Behold not with malevolence
The sins of man,
But forgive
And cleanse.
And so, o Lord,
Beneath your wings
Be our peace
Forever more.
Queen Liliuokalani
Hawaii 1838-1917
I am a man of peace, I believe in peace.
But I do not want peace at any price.
I do not want the peace that you find in stone.
I do not want the peace that you find
In the grave, but I do want the peace
Which you find embedded in the human breast,
Which is exposed to the whole world,
But which is protected from all harm
By the power of the Almighty God.
Let then our first act every morning be
To make the following resolve for the day:
I shall not fear anyone on earth.
I shall fear only God.
I shall not bear ill will towards anyone.
I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
I shall conquer untruth by Truth.
And in resisting untruth I shall endure all suffering.
Mahatma Gandhi
India 1869-1948
Lead us from death to life,
From falsehood to truth.
Lead us from despair to hope,
From fear to trust.
Lead us from hate to love,
From war to peace.
Let peace fill our hearts,
Our world, our universe.
Let us dream together.
Pray together,
Work together,
To build one world
Of peace and justice
For all.
Christian Conference of Asia
Singapore
May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm on your face,
The rain fall softly on your fields,
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
Traditional Folk Blessing
Ireland
May He Who is the Father in Heaven of the
Christians, Holy One of the Jews, Allah of
The Muslims, Buddha of the Buddhists,
Tao of the Chinese, Ahura Mazda of the
Zoroastrians and Brahman of the Hindus
Lead us from the unreal to the Real, from
Darkness to light, from disease and death
To immortality. May the all-Loving Being
Manifest Himself unto us, and grant us abiding
Understanding and all-consuming divine love.
Peace. Peace. Peace be unto all.
Swami Akhilananda
Bangladesh 1894-1962
May the forest of razor-sharp leaves
Become a beautiful pleasure grove,
And may the trees of knives and swords
Grow into wish-fulfilling trees.
May the heaps of burnings coals change to heaps of jewels,
May the burning ground become a polished crystal floor,
And may the mountain of crushing hells
Become celestial palaces or worship filled with Buddhas.
May the naked find clothing,
The hungry find food;
May the thirsty find water
And delicious drinks.
May the poor find wealth,
Those weak with sorrow find joy.
May the forlorn find new hope,
Constant happiness and prosperity.
For as long as space endures
And for as long as living beings remain,
Until then may I too abide
To dispel the misery of the world.
Yajur Veda 36.17
Shantideva: Bodhicaryavatara
To the heavens be peace, to the sky and the earth,
To the waters be peace, to plants and all trees,
To the Gods be peace, to Brahman be peace,
To all people be peace, again and again
– peace also to me!
Yajur Veda 36.17
Hatreds never cease through hatred in this world, through loving-kindness alone they cease. This is an eternal law.
The Dhammapada 1:5
From the nameless uncarved wood comes absence of desire,
Through not desiring one becomes tranquil,
And the empire, of itself, becomes peaceful.
From “Tao te Ching”
by Lao Tzu (Chapter 37)
It is only when things are investigated that knowledge is extended; when knowledge is extended that thoughts become sincere; when thoughts become sincere that the mind is rectified; when the mind is rectified that the person is cultivated; when the person is cultivated that order is brought to the family; when order is brought to the family that the state is well governed; when the state is well governed that peace is brought to the world.
From the Ta hsueh
(Great Learning)
The representation of the Medicine Man as a nude figure is not a mere fancy… for in many of the religious rites the priest appeared in such a manner. This nudity is not without its significance; it typifies the utter helplessness of man, when his strength is contrasted with the power of the Great Spirit. With his best intelligence and greatest skill in the use of his hands, man is powerless to bring into existence even so much as the tiniest flower, while out of the force of the will of the Mysterious One, all things in the heavens and the earth have come into existence with beauty, grandeur and majesty.
Francis LaFlesche, Omaha
Farewell my younger brother, from the high holy places the Yei [Spirit] has come for me. You will never see me again. But when the showers pass over you, and the thunder sounds, you will think: There is the voice of my elder brother. And when the harvests ripen, and you hear the voices of small birds of many kinds and the chirping of the grasshoppers, you will think: There is the ordering of my elder brother. There is the trail of his mind.
The Mountain Chant: A Navaho Ceremony
…and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more
Isaiah: Chapter 2, 4
1. And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2. And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of know-ledge and of the fear of the Lord:
5. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
7. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den.
9. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Isaiah: Chapter 11
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteous-ness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
St. Matthew: Chapter 5, 3-12
And those who believe and work righteousness will be admitted to Gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever with the permission of their Lord. Their greeting therein will be:”Peace!”
Qur’an [Koran] Chapter 14 (Ibrahim), Verse 23
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we nay not so much seek to be consoled as to consoe; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
Prayer of Saint Francis
True peace is not merely the absence of tension but is the presence of justice and brotherhood.
Martin Luther King Jr.
May the whole Cosmos be blessed,
May all beings engage in each other’s well being,
May all weakness, sickness and faults diminish and vanish,
May everyone and everywhere be healthy, prosper, blissful and peaceful.
Jain
I am free of all envy
Since I found Saadh Sangat, the company of the holy.
None is my foe, no one a stranger; everyone is a friend.
Sikh prayer,
Guru Arjan
The religion of the Mazda Worshipers puts an end to quarrels, causes one to sheath one’s sword, and brings about union and the spirit of self-sacrifice, which promote virtue.