Understanding Others and Ourselves; Achieving Balance in an Unbalanced World

[FunkyPlasma]

"The Fence

Here's something about anger and a way to look at it.

There was a little boy with a bad temper. His wise father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the now older boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.

He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care by learning to control your anger and your tongue.

By: Audrey Wittrup"

source: http://achievebalance.com/data/articles/fence.htm


Love,

Michaelwoof

[FunkyPlasma]

"Quarrel of the Colors

Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel. All claimed that they were the best. The most important. The most useful. The favorite.

Green said: "Clearly, I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for the grass, trees and leaves. Without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority."

Blue interrupted: "You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing."

Yellow chuckled: "You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me there would be no fun."

Orange started next to blow her trumpet: "I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes and papayas. I don't hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you."

Red could not stand it any longer, he shouted out: "I am the ruler of all you. I am blood - life's blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into blood. Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the Color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy."

Purple rose up to his full height: He was very tall and spoke with great pomp: I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me! They listen and obey."

Finally Indigo spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination: "Think of me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace."

As so the colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling become louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightning, thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort.

In the midst of the clamor, Rain began to speak: "You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me."

Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands.

The Rain continued: "From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The Rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow."

And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a Rainbow appears in the sky, let us remember to appreciate one another."

source: http://achievebalance.com/think/colors.htm


Love,

Michaelwoof

[FunkyPlasma]

"What is "The Truth"?

If the Truth is so simple, why does the United States Court System have people swear the following oath before they testify: "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" It is a wonderful oath, covering everything within reason and logic, and knowledge. It however does not cover the things that we neither know nor understand.


I can not tell you the truth about the history of the planet Mars, because I know very little about it. I can not tell you the truth about the chemical process that turns . . . well, about just any chemical process, because I know very little about that stuff.

I could tell you all I know about these things, I could tell you the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about what I know of the history of Mars, and I would not tell you much at all. It would be a speech of little value to you. The point is that I can only tell you my perception of the truth, my knowledge of the truth, or what I believe that I understand of the truth. I can also be honest and tell you that there are times when I know little of what you seek.

So, what is the Truth about God and Heaven and After-life? After what I have said so far, how can I offer to answer that question? By analogy, of course! Besides, I have pursued the answers to those questions for many, many years.

Let me give you a short analogy, that makes a similar point: You may remember from your geometry class that if you add the measurement of the three angles in a triangle, the total is ALWAYS 180 degrees. If you didn't have that great training, or have forgotten it, then trust me when I say that this little hypothesis about the 'sum of the angles of a triangle' is key to much of geometry. It is basic, it is foundational and I can prove it . . . incomplete.

How? First let's remember a LIMITATION of geometry and triangles drawn on paper: Everything drawn on paper is two-dimensional, but life is NOT. If you were to take a globe of this wonderful planet, and draw a triangle on it, you will RARELY get 180 degrees as the total! For example, if you draw a triangle from the North Pole to the Equator, covering one fourth of the Northern Hemisphere, your triangle would have three ninety degree angles, totaling 270 degrees!

So what is taken as absolute truth in a two-dimensional world, is found to not be true in a three-dimensional world!

Since it is easy to forget that life on earth has a spiritual dimension to it as well, we forget that 'logical' truths do not hold up in reality! That's why so many economic and political theories collapse: on paper, they look great. But when applied to a nation or society full of less-than-perfect human beings, all of whom are unique, with unique talents and gifts and goals, it just doesn't add up anymore!"

source: http://achievebalance.com/spirit/ots/index.htm


Love,

Michaelwoof

[FunkyPlasma]

The One True Shape:
Who has it?
Once upon a time, there was a teacher. This teacher taught people how to live and care for each other and their planet. He taught them to be responsible, and compassionate. He taught them to spend less and less time being self-centered and more and more time doing compassionate things and being compassionate people. He told them that their Creator loved each one of them, and wanted a deeper relationship with everyone.

He had a small problem, though. The teacher was trying to teach people something that they couldn't easily understand. Some focused on all the things that were not perfect on their planet, and used the existence of these things to prove the teacher was wrong. Poverty, famine, drought, greed, crime, and unequal distribution of wealth was what some could not forget. How could a loving Creator allow these?

The teacher wanted to give them a taste of deeper truths. He wanted them to work together with their Creator to get even deeper truths. He often used analogies to explain truth to them. One of his previously unrecorded analogies is this story. He decided to teach them multiple truths about "Truth" by describing a beautiful shape to them, but only in terms that they were ready to understand.

Here He chose to use a physical shape to symbolize truth because the culture they were from did not easily make three dimensional drawings. They held such a high esteem for truth, and it was impossible in their eyes to accurately draw a three dimensional picture on a two dimensional piece of paper. Thus, to avoid inaccuracy and confusion, they banned any attempts at three dimensional drawings.

He would ignore the ban, and suffered for it. Those that listened to him drew two dimensional views of it, and they were convinced that they were getting the truth, the whole truth (as they allowed) and nothing but the truth. He did tell them that 'the Truth will set you free'.

 One group heard Him describing a drawing of a square. This fit their culture well, and it became quite popular. They easily grasped the concepts of 'everything has a time and a place', and 'to everything there is a purpose'. They liked structure and order and security and consistency. The also believed that they had to take the message they understood to the four corners of the world. They became evangelistic, adventurous and militant. They loved what they had heard the One Great Teacher say to them.

 Another group heard Him describing a drawing of a circle. This was a group that understood doing things smoothly, with as little strive as possible. The liked working as teams, and to have a symbol that made sense to them was wonderful. They saw the unity of all people, the common brotherhood of all mankind. They knew that everyone is a child of God, and should be treated as such. They were very peaceful, and compliant. They were excellent servants and workers even to those that despised them. They loved what they had heard the One Great Teacher say to them.

 Yet another group heard Him describing a drawing of a triangle as tall as it was wide. They understood how life is not just one thing, or one sided. They knew that there was more to life and society than one sees. Like air, the unseen is important and vital. They focused on the trilogy of body, soul and spirit. They focused on a three-fold nature of the Creator. They believed in the meaning of past, present and future. They grasped prophecy, already fulfilled prophecy and prophecy yet unfulfilled. They loved what they had heard the One Great Teacher say to them.

In each case, each group believed that they had been given the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. They forgot their own limitations on understanding three dimensional objects in a two dimensional world.

While they heard the message that they were each special in their Creator's eyes, they took that message to mean that they 'as a group' were special in their Creator's eyes, not so much as individuals. Almost naturally, they each took it upon themselves to believe that there was nothing of truth outside of what they had. They would only listen to themselves. (For further comment on the dangers of listening to those you agree with, go to my commentary on "Spiritual Incest".)

They formed cliques against each other, and separated themselves. Where once they were pleased to let everyone know that they all had the same teacher, they now referred to themselves as belonging to the 'four-corners', the 'perfect circle' or the 'three-sided stars'.

To their credit, they found good things in what they had been given. The first group recognized the need to be truthful to "the four corners of the world". The second group saw the continuity, unity and even eternity of life. The third saw that life is part material, part emotional and part spiritual.

However, many of them focused on what kept them apart. Since they all knew that there was only "One True Shape", and that they all had different shapes, they came to the 'natural' conclusion that only their shape was true. After all, hadn't the One Great Teacher entrusted it to them for a purpose! They assumed that they had understood the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, as God helped them. They never established harmony with each other, and truth be told, some of the most passionate violence in history was amongst them. They purged the world of each other, or at least tried.

It stayed that way for many years, even decades. One would think that the One Great Teacher would have been disappointed with what was left behind. But they didn't really know what was happening.

Yet, over the years, there were others who claimed to have seen the "Great One" as he became to be know, in a vision. In this vision they each believed they had been given yet a new design.

 They believed they saw a circle, with the top half lit and the bottom half dark. They focused on the struggle between good and evil, and how good will overcome evil, and how good is better than evil. They also realized that they had important roles in making sure that good overcame evil, and, despite sharing the 'circle' with the very peaceful group, they became evangelistic, adventurous and militant.

 Yet another such group, in looking closer at the 'triangle' original document, stated that it was revealed to them that the triangle actually had the outline of what looked like a tree in it. It must be an evergreen, being wider at the bottom and gradually getting thinner as it goes up. Thus, they became known as "The Tree Lovers". Since trees grow, this meant to them that growth was a major part of life, and should be a major focus for all. They focused on spiritual growth and protecting the environment. Since they had grown beyond all the others, in that they were the only ones that understood this shape, they became self-righteous faster than most of the other groups.

 Then, another radical group came forward. They had also gotten 'better' translations of the original 'square' document to reveal something extraordinary. There was also a shape within the shape. It almost looked like, well, you decide what it looks like. They became known as "The Mysterious Ones". They focused on the mysteries of life, the unanswerable questions, the ironies of life and death, disease and health, and pain and joy. Because no one understood them, they withdrew from society and tried to live in their own communities, apart from others.

Did these three groups realize what they had in common with each other? Yes, their persecution by the original three. Because each of them had "warped" what the original had, they were looked down upon, disgraced and rejected. So, what was their response? To persecute back, to condemn and to believe in their own purity and the lower state of the others!

Of course, many took this diversity to splinter even more. Some even took the existence of so many groups as proof that the Great One either never was great or never really existed! How could the TRUTH come in so many flavors? Since that was not logical, it was only logical to them that there was no absolute Truth, only relative truths. Most focused on what made them different from each other. The 'Tree Lovers', for instance, started to really focus on all forms of life and preservation of the planet while ignoring divine issues. The 'Mysterious Ones' started to court mystery and intrigue above all other virtues while ignoring compassion and humility.

It also seemed that the more energy came into these three new groups, the more energy the older groups gathered to spread the fight that had only the three originals in the ring to include the new-comers. Since this increase in fighting was changing daily, the local media took it upon themselves to decide that everyone needed to know every nuance of every little battle, and they kindled the flame. Even though they were also followers of the One Great Teacher, they ignored His warnings about gossip, and His reminders about 'love one another, even your enemies.

No, not all fell into this fight, this foolishness, just the vocal ones. There were those that did not join in the fray, but they were easy to overlook and dismiss.

And so it stayed for many decades, nay, many centuries.

source: http://achievebalance.com/spirit/ots/ots.htm

 

Love,

Michaelwoof
 
 

[FunkyPlasma]

What is the Truth?
The Research Into the Truth
Many years later, there was another. He was intrigued by the story of the great teacher that founded three different schools of the truth. He looked at the square, the circle and the triangle. Confused, he even looked at the other shapes that had 'been revealed' over the years.

He wondered how there could possible be so many views of the truth, and all be so different. It just didn't make sense. Everything he had read about the One Great Teacher made sense, except for this part.

As he researched, he was declared outcast. Since he approached each group with the possibility that they had truth, he was initially accepted. But when they learned he believed that they didn't have the whole truth, they withdrew from helping him. Well, almost all of them. He still had some in each group that helped him.

This made it tougher. The One Great Teacher was very, very commendable. Yet His followers were not. Many of them were self-righteous, either in themselves or in those that agreed with them. There was quite the lack of acceptance of those that didn't agree with them, despite their Master's teachings. The hardness of their hearts made him question whether or not the One Great Teacher knew what He claimed.

Yet, in his heart He knew he was on the right path, and he persisted. After much lonely and heart-wrenching research and review, he declared an end to his research. He had started out respecting the Great One, and had gone through much spiritual mud slinging (at the receiving end). He almost lost his energy, until he had a startling revelation. In his humanity, it was amusing to him that he did not figure this out by his own logic, but by an accident when he dropped his research papers.

To help you review what has gone on so far, I repeat all the shapes here. Look at them. Study them. Decipher the research and tell yourself what this teacher found. Then click here to continue.

       

 

source: http://achievebalance.com/spirit/ots/ots2.htm

 

Love,

Michaelwoof

[Lori Anne]

You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care by learning to control your anger and your tongue.

By: Audrey Wittrup"

source: http://achievebalance.com/data/articles/fence.htm


Love,

Michaelwoof

This is nice Michael,  Thank you.
This is one of the ideas I try to stres with my kids.  That it's okay to get angry and it's okay to feelupset or disagreeable toward another, but it is not okay to use your words as an attack.  We used to have a sign posted up in our house called 'the Anger Rules".  Rule number one was "No hurting with your words".

[Zamurito]

Yes, this is good juju.

z

[FunkyPlasma]

 

[FunkyPlasma]

"What is the Truth?
The Revelation of the Whole Truth, maybe.

To help you review what has gone on so far, I repeat all the shapes here. Look at them. Study them. Decipher the research and tell yourself what this teacher found.

      http://achievebalance.com/spirit/ots/ots3.htm


It was revealed to him, virtually by accident, that each of the groups had a view of the truth, but a view from only one side.

 Each of the above is a two-dimensional view of the same three-dimensional object. It is the same object in each case!

He had learned that the "One True Shape" had substance to it. It was not just an image. The One True Shape was REAL! It was three dimensional as was their world. It was beyond an 'image' or 'picture' and beyond the 'spiritual' realm.

Looking at the six images above, the circular ones are views first from the bottom, and then from the top. The triangular views are from the side, one in outline, and one with the circular portion highlighted in a display of 3-d. The square views are also side views, from a 90 degree angle off of the triangular views. Again, one is outline, and the other shows some 3-d highlighting.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


So what do we learn from this? Well, to say that all belief systems are a part of the truth may be going too far, in my opinion. After all, there are those that believe that murdering another person is okay. I can't accept that. I believe however that it is safe to say that . . . amongst those that are spiritual, and desire to better know God as they understand God, there are many, many truths that we can learn from each other.

If you want to see a historic view of this, of how history has been written from each culture's perspective, go to the Genesis article on this website!


source: http://achievebalance.com/spirit/ots/ots3.htm

 

Love,

Michaelwoof

[FunkyPlasma]

"Peace, Serenity and Reconciliation



Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it! Almight God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. --- Abraham Maslow


Acceptance of others, their looks, their behaviors, their beliefs, brings you an inner peace and tranquillity
instead of anger and resentment. --- Anon


Be a good human being, a warm-hearted affectionate person. That is my fundamental belief. Having a sense of caring, a feeling of compassion will bring happiness of peace of mind to oneself and automatically create a positive atmosphere. --- Dalai Lama 1935


Discourage litigation. Persuade you neighbors to compromise whenever you can ... As a peace-maker the lawyer has a superior opportunity of being a good man. There will still be business enough. --- Abraham Lincoln 1809


Do not lose your inward peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. --- Saint Francis De Sales 1567


Find peace with yourself by accepting not only what you are, but what you are never going to be. --- Anon


God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. --- Serenity Prayer


Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it! Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! (American Revolutionary War) --- Patrick Henry


Love is not getting, but giving. Not a wild dream of pleasure and madness of desire - oh, no - love is not that! It is goodness and honor and peace and pure living - yes, love is that and it is the best thing in the world and the thing that lives the longest. --- Henry Van Dyke


Moments of kindness and reconciliation are worth having, even if the parting has to come sooner or later. --- Alice Munro 1931


Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. --- Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803


Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that we have to erect the ramparts of peace. --- UNESCO Charter


The mind is never right but when it is at peace within itself. --- Seneca 4BC


Under this tree, where light and shade speckle the grass like a Thrush's breast, here in this green and quiet place I give myself to peace and rest. The peace of my contented mind, that is to me a wealth untold
when the Moon has no more silver left, and the Sun's at the end of his gold. --- W H Davies 1870"

source: http://inspirationpeek.blogspot.com/2006/0...nciliation.html


Love,

Michaelwoof

[FunkyPlasma]

Aesop, Greek slave who rose to become a renowned philosopher, thinker and peacemaker (5th Century BC)

"A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety."



Alexander The Great, Macedonian conquerer (356-323 BC)

"In faith and hope the world will disagree, but all mankind's concern is charity."




Kofi Annan, 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1938-)

"We must put people at the center of everything we do. No calling is more noble, and no responsibility greater, than that of enabling men, women and children, in cities and in villages around the world, to make their lives better."


Aristotle, Greek Mathematician and Philosopher (384-322BC)

"It is more difficult to organize a peace than to win a war; but the fruits of victory will be lost if the peace is not organized."



Baha'ullah, prophet and founder of the Baha'i Faith

"The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens."




The Bible

"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." - Matthew V




Bishop Of Dili Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo (1996 Nobel Peace Prize)

"Some scientists believe there is something in the human person deeper than ethics and reason. We have the capacity to be moved by the suffering of others. This inherent power serves as the foundation for respect for others and the relief of their suffering. Humans are compassionate beings."




John Buchan, First Baron Tweedsmuir, Scots Author and Statesman & 35th Governor General of Canada (1875-1940)

"Peace is that state in which fear of any kind is unknown."



Buddha (566-486 BC)

"Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule."

"Friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee of peace."


source: http://www.salmac.com/peace/quotes/quotes.html#b


Love,

Michaelwoof

[FunkyPlasma]

Jimmy Carter, 39th US President, founder of the Carter Center dedicated to resolving global conflict (1924-)

"One of the most basic principles for making and keeping peace within and between nations. . . is that in political, military, moral, and spiritual confrontations, there should be an honest attempt at the reconciliation of differences before resorting to combat."



William Ellery Channing, Unitarian minister & essayist (1780-1842)

"We look forward to the time when the power to love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace."



Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, novelist and statesman (1874-1965)

"There is no limit to the ingenuity of man if it is properly and vigorously applied under conditions of peace and justice."

"All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope."



King Croesus of Lydia (560-546)

"No one would be foolish enough to choose war over peace- in peace sons bury their fathers, but in war fathers bury their sons."



His Holiness the Dalai Lama, 1989 Nobel Peace Laureate

"Compassion is not religious business, it is human business, it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival. "

"Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace."

"You can develop the right attitude toward others if you have kindness, love and respect for them, and a clear realization of the oneness of all human beings."

"A truly compassionate attitude toward others does not change even if they behave negatively or hurt you. Whether one believes in a religion or not, and whether ones believes in rebirth or not, there isn't anyone who doesn't appreciate kindness and compassion."

"It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others."



The Draft Declaration on the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Published by the United Nations, 23 August 1993)

"All peoples contribute to the diversity and richness of civilizations and cultures, which constitute the common heritage of humankind"





John Foster Dulles, Major of United States Army & US Secretary of State (1888-1959)

"The world will never have lasting peace so long as men reserve for war the finest human qualities. Peace, no less than war, requires idealism and self-sacrifice and a righteous and dynamic faith."

source: http://www.salmac.com/peace/quotes/quotes.html#d



Love,

Michaelwoof

[FunkyPlasma]

Thomas Alva Edison, American Inventor (1847-1931)

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages."




Albert Einstein, Scientist & Philosopher (1879-1955)

"To me the worst thing seems to be a school principally to work with methods of fear, force and artificial authority. Such treatment destroys the sound sentiments, the sincerity and the self-confidence of pupils and produces a subservient subject."

"We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war. There is no task that is more important or closer to my heart."

"You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war."



Dwight David Eisenhower, Thirty-Fourth USPresident, Commandor of the Allied Forces, 1942 & NATO & Peace advocate (1890-1969)

"I like to believe that people in the long run are going to do more to promote peace than our governments. Indeed, I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it."

"Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin."

"After my experience, I have come to hate war. War settles nothing."



Ralph Waldo Emerson, American Unitarian minister, Transcendentalist, Philosopher & Poet (1803-1882)

"Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding."

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself."

"Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them."



Aldolfo Perez Esquivel, Architect, Latin-American sculptor and human rights leader (1980 Nobel Peace Prize Winner) (1931-)

"To create this new society, we must present outstretched and friendly hands, without hatred and rancor, even as we show great determination and never waver in the defense of truth and justice. Because we know that we cannot sow seeds with clenched fists. To sow we must open our hands."




Anne Frank ("The Diary of Anne Frank") (1929-1945)

"It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet, I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever-approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again."



Benjamin Franklin, American soldier, scientist and politician (1706-1790)

"There never was a good war or a bad peace." - (in a letter dated 1773)



The Right Honourable Malcolm Fraser, Former Australian Prime Minister & Current President of CARE International (1930-)

"As many have recognised, reconciliation is not something that will happen on one day in one particular year. It is an ongoing process which involves both government and people. But as we close out the last millennium and begin the next, as we end the Commonwealth of Australia’s first 100 years and begin the next, it is more than a little sad that we have not yet in this year achieved a significant landmark which enables us to say:

From this point onward, reconciliation is assured. From this point onward we are building the reality of Australians united in a common purpose." - August 24, 2000




Mohandas K. Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), Indian leader and pacifist (1869-1948)

"If we wish to create a lasting peace we must begin with the children."

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent"

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

"Peace will not come out of a clash of arms but out of justice lived and done by unarmed nationals in the face of odds."

"Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."

"All the great religions of the world inculcate the equality and brotherhood of mankind and the virtue of toleration."

"The first step in non-violence is that we cultivate in our daily life, as between ourselves, truthfulness, humility, tolerance, and loving kindness."

"Jesus lived and died in vain if he did not teach us to regulate the whole of life by the eternal Law of Love."

"Hatred is not essential for nationalism. Race hatred will kill the national spirit."

"Not to believe in the possibility of permanent peace is to disbelieve in the Godliness of human nature."



André Gide, French writer (1869-1951)

"It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labours of peace."



Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union, 1990 Nobel Peace Laureate and current President of Green Cross International (1931-)

"What we need is Star Peace and not Star Wars."

"We need a new system of values, a system of the organic unity between mankind and nature and the ethic of global responsibility"



Rabbi Hugo Gryn C.B.E., Patron of the Anne Frank Educational Trust UK, survivor of Auschwitz

"I am also conscious of the kind of hope that premeated so much of Anne Frank's life - and in a way I hope with her, and for her, that before the end of this century hearts, minds and attitudes may yet alter and change. That suspicion and hatred and violence born of differences in creed or colour of skin will be left behind - buried with everything that is so shameful in this most complicated of centuries."




Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao (Leader Of The National Council Of Timorese Resistance)

"Our Nation will be greater if each and every one of us is able to forgive, including those who have committed the most reprehensible acts. In such an exalting time, each of us is called upon to overcome differences and bury hatred. Let's embrace each other and join hands in an unbreakable chain of brotherhood and love. For Timor's future to be one of joy and prosperity, we must be united around our Nation."


source: http://www.salmac.com/peace/quotes/gusmao.html

 

Love,

Michaelwoof

[FunkyPlasma]

Thich Nhat Hahn, Vietnamese Buddhist monk and Peace facilitator (1926-)

"And once we have the condition of peace and joy in us, we can afford to be in any situation. Even in the situation of hell, we will be able to contribute our peace and serenity. The most important thing is for each of us to have some freedom in our heart, some stability in our heart, some peace in our heart. Only then will we be able to relieve the suffering around us."

"Peace is based on a respect for life, the spirit of reverence for life. Not only do we have to respect the lives of human beings, but we have to respect the lives of animals, vegetables and minerals. Rocks can be alive. A rock can be destroyed. The Earth also. The way we farm, the way we deal with our garbage, all these things are related to each other." (from "Peace is Every Step")

"If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work."

"Every day we do things, we are things, that have to do with peace. If we are aware of our lifestyle, our way of consuming, our way of looking at things, we will know how to make peace right in the moment we are alive."

"Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and to prevent war."



Oscar Hammerstein II, American lyricist and musician (1895-1960)

"Peace is not the product of a victory or a command. It has no finishing line, no final deadline, no fixed definition of achievement. Peace is a never-ending process, the work of many decisions."



Lady Marie Herbert, Scottish explorer & writer (wife of polar exporer Sir Wally Herbert)

"Unlike children in other countries, the Eskimos played no game of war. They played with imaginary rifles and harpoons, but these were never directed against people but against the formidable beasts that haunted the vast wastes of their land."




Thomas Hobbes, 17th century British philosopher & Author of Leviathan (1651).

"The first and fundamental law of nature ... is to seek peace and follow it."



Abbie Hoffman, Amrican activist and anarchist, founder of the Youth International Party (1936-1989)

"I believe in compulsory cannibalism. If people were forced to eat what they killed, there would be no more wars."



Oliver Wendell Holmes, American writer, surgeon, teacher and lecturer (1841-1935)

"The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins."

"The peaceful are the strong."




Irish Blessings

"May your days be many and your troubles be few. May all God's blessings descend upon you. May peace be within you may your heart be strong. May you find what you're seeking wherever you roam."



Thomas Jefferson, Third US President & drafter of the US Declaration of Independence (1743-1826)

"Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it."

"War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses."

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, - that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." (The Declaration of Independence)



Thomas á Kempis, German Augustine Monk (1380-1471)

"First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others." - said in 1420

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Thirty-Fifth American President and Pulitzer Prize winning author (1917-1963)

"Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

"Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind."



Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., American civil rights leader, Baptist Minister & 1964 Nobel Peace laureate (1929-1968)

"Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."

"The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood."

"Peace is more important than all justice; and peace was not made for the sake of justice, but justice for the sake of peace."

"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality."

"Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality."

"Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destrous community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers."


Satish Kumar, ex-Jain monk, Editor of environmental magazine "Resurgence", co-founder of Schumann College and instigator of the 1962 "World Walk for Peace"

"Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth;
Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust;
Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace;
Let peace fill our heart, our world, our universe"
- "Prayer for Peace"


Janet Langert (wife of Secretary of Defense William Cohen)

"If we leave somebody behind for something as ridiculous as skin color, we all lose."




John Lennon, English singer/songwriter

Imagine there's no heaven,
it's easy if you try,
no hell below us,
above us only sky.
Imagine all the people
living for today, aha.

You may say I'm a dreamer
but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday - you'll join us,
and the world will live as one.

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too.
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace, aha.

You may say I'm a dreamer
but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday - you'll join us,
and the world will live as one.

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man.
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world, aha.

You may say I'm a dreamer
but I'm not the only one.
I hope someday - you'll join us,
and the world will live as one.

(lyrics to "Imagine")



Abraham Lincoln

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds. . . to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations."
(Second Inaugural Address, Mar. 4, 1865)

"We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearth-stone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."





Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet, educator, linguist (1807-1882)

"If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."




Very Reverend Dr. Martin Luther, German founder of Lutheranism (1483-1546)

"War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity; it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families. Any scourge is preferable to it."

source: http://www.salmac.com/peace/quotes/holmes.html



Love,

Michaelwoof

[FunkyPlasma]

Nelson Mandala
(South African Statesman & 1993 Nobel Prize for Peace)

"As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself... Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility."

"If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner."




Henry Miller, American Writer (1891-1980)

"If there is to be any peace it will come through being, not having."



Professor Maria Montessori, Education Reformist and founder of the Montessori Learning Centers (1870-1952)

"Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war."



A. J. Muste (Abraham Johannes Muste), Dutch Minister, teacher, political activist and pacifist (1885-1967)

"There is no way to peace, peace is the way."

"We cannot have peace if we are only concerned with peace. War is not an accident. It is the logical outcome of a certain way of life. If we want to attack war, we have to attack that way of life."



Jawaharlal Nehru, Indian nationalist leader and statesman, who was the first prime minister (1947-64) of independent India. (1889-1964)

"Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people."



Richard M. Nixon, Thirty-Seventh US President (1913-1994)

"The peace we seek to win is not victory over any other people, but the peace that comes with healing in its wings; with compassion for those who have suffered; with understanding for those who have opposed us; with the opportunity for all the peoples of this Earth to choose their own destiny."



Pope John Paul II

"War should belong to the tragic past, in history. It should find no place on humanity's agenda for the future." (speaking in Coventry, 1982)



Eleanor Roosevelt, Humanitarian, Educator, UN Spokesperson & 32nd US First Lady (1884-1962)

"For it isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work for it."



Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd US President, and originator of the United Nations (1882-1945)

"We can gain no lasting peace if we approach it with suspicion and mistrust or with fear. We can gain it only if we proceed with the understanding, the confidence, and the courage which flow from conviction."



Theodore Roosevelt, 26th American President (1858–1919)

"The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first and love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life."




Lord Bertrand Russell, Welsh philosopher, logician, essayist, and renowned peace advocate & Nobel Literature Laureate (1872-1970) co-author (with Albert Einstein) of Russell-Einstein Manifesto in 1955, calling for the curtailment of nuclear weapons

"War does not determine who is right - only who is left."

"United with his fellow-men by the strongest of all ties, the tie of a common doom, the free man finds that a new vision is with him always, shedding over every daily task the light of love. The life of Man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long. One by one, as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent Death. Very brief is the time in which we can help them, in which their happiness or misery is decided. Be it ours to shed sunshine on their path, to lighten their sorrows by the balm of sympathy, to give them the pure joy of a never-tiring affection, to strengthen failing courage, to instil faith in hours of despair. Let us not weigh in grudging scales their merits and demerits, but let us think only of their need, of the sorrows, the difficulties, perhaps the blindnesses, that make the misery of their lives; let us remember that they are fellow-sufferers in the same darkness, actors in the same tragedy with ourselves." ("The Free Man's Worship" [1903])

" I found one day in school a boy of medium size ill-treating a smaller boy. I expostulated, but he replied: 'The bigs hit me, so I hit the babies; that's fair.' In these words he epitomized the history of the human race." (Education and the Social Order [London: Allen & Unwin, 1932])


source: http://www.salmac.com/peace/quotes/quotes.html#d



Love,

Michaelwoof