Nonviolence Quotations
The following are great quotations espousing the principles of nonviolence and reconciliation.
I object to violence, because, when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
Mohandas K. Gandhi “On the Verge of It”, Young India, 21 May 1925—as cited in Jim Wallis, The Soul of Politics: A Practical and Prophetic Vision of Change, London: Fount, 1994 p. 205.
Amore Vincet Omnea…Love conquers all…
Virgil, 10th Eclogue (37 BCE).
To my brothers and sisters, the Jews who died in Dachau; and to my brothers and sisters, the Palestinians who died in Tel-azzaatar, Sabra and Shatila refugees camps.
Elias Chacour a Palestinian-Israeli priest.. Elias Chacour, with David Hazard, ‘Dedication’, Blood Brothers, Grand Rapids MI: Chosen Books,1984, p. vi.
Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize this will end in bitterness? For how long before you order your men to stop pursuing their brothers?
2 Samuel 24:26.
‘Who is the hero?’ Ask the rabbis of the Talmud. Their answer: ‘One who changes an enemy into a [friend].’
Jay Rothman, Resolving Identity-based Conflict, 1997, p. xiii.
Where there is fairness and love…the violence disappears.
Pax Christi.
The one that maintains we can establish a Jewish Home here through the suppression of the political aspirations of the Arabs, and therefore a Home necessarily established on bayonets over a long period – [is] a policy which I think bound to fail because of the violence against us it would occasion, and because good opinion in Britain and the conscience of the Jewish people itself would revolt against it. The other policy holds that we can establish a Home here only if we are true to ourselves as democrats and internationalists, thus being just and helpful to others, and to ask for the protection of life and property while we are eagerly and sincerely at work to find a ‘modus vivendi et operandi’ with our neighbours.
Founding chancellor of Hebrew University and founder of the binational political party Berit Shalom, Rabbi Judah Magnes, 1930.
Judah Magnes, “Like All the Nations?”, 1930 in Arthur Hertzberg, The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader, New York, 1959, p. 448 as cited in--Desmond Stewart, The Middle East: Temple of Janus, New York: Double Day and Co, 1971, p. 308.
I who have served my country for 27 years as a soldier, I say to you your Majesty this is the only battle that is a pleasure to win: the battle for peace…”Blessed art thou, O Lord, who hast preserved us and sustained us and enabled us to reach this moment.” God bless the peace.
Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin speaking in a joint House of the US Congress, referring to King Hussein of Jordan, 25 July 1994.
Howard M. Sachar, A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to our Time, Second Edition, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976, 1996, p. 1001.
Empathy for the enemy, before, during, or after the violence of war is an essential ingredient to the healing of enmity…To empathise with enemies is to weaken one’s readiness to kill them.
Donald W. Shriver, Jr., An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics, New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 125.
I object to violence, because, when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.
Mohandas K. Gandhi “On the Verge of It”, Young India, 21 May 1925—as cited in Jim Wallis, The Soul of Politics: A Practical and Prophetic Vision of Change, London: Fount, 1994 p. 205.
Amore Vincet Omnea…Love conquers all…
Virgil, 10th Eclogue (37 BCE).
To my brothers and sisters, the Jews who died in Dachau; and to my brothers and sisters, the Palestinians who died in Tel-azzaatar, Sabra and Shatila refugees camps.
Elias Chacour a Palestinian-Israeli priest.. Elias Chacour, with David Hazard, ‘Dedication’, Blood Brothers, Grand Rapids MI: Chosen Books,1984, p. vi.
Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize this will end in bitterness? For how long before you order your men to stop pursuing their brothers?
2 Samuel 24:26.
‘Who is the hero?’ Ask the rabbis of the Talmud. Their answer: ‘One who changes an enemy into a [friend].’
Jay Rothman, Resolving Identity-based Conflict, 1997, p. xiii.
Where there is fairness and love…the violence disappears.
Pax Christi.
The one that maintains we can establish a Jewish Home here through the suppression of the political aspirations of the Arabs, and therefore a Home necessarily established on bayonets over a long period – [is] a policy which I think bound to fail because of the violence against us it would occasion, and because good opinion in Britain and the conscience of the Jewish people itself would revolt against it. The other policy holds that we can establish a Home here only if we are true to ourselves as democrats and internationalists, thus being just and helpful to others, and to ask for the protection of life and property while we are eagerly and sincerely at work to find a ‘modus vivendi et operandi’ with our neighbours.
Founding chancellor of Hebrew University and founder of the binational political party Berit Shalom, Rabbi Judah Magnes, 1930.
Judah Magnes, “Like All the Nations?”, 1930 in Arthur Hertzberg, The Zionist Idea: A Historical Analysis and Reader, New York, 1959, p. 448 as cited in--Desmond Stewart, The Middle East: Temple of Janus, New York: Double Day and Co, 1971, p. 308.
I who have served my country for 27 years as a soldier, I say to you your Majesty this is the only battle that is a pleasure to win: the battle for peace…”Blessed art thou, O Lord, who hast preserved us and sustained us and enabled us to reach this moment.” God bless the peace.
Prime Minister of Israel Yitzhak Rabin speaking in a joint House of the US Congress, referring to King Hussein of Jordan, 25 July 1994.
Howard M. Sachar, A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to our Time, Second Edition, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1976, 1996, p. 1001.
Empathy for the enemy, before, during, or after the violence of war is an essential ingredient to the healing of enmity…To empathise with enemies is to weaken one’s readiness to kill them.
Donald W. Shriver, Jr., An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics, New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 125.
posted by Stewart Mills at 3:24 PM
