50 Inspiring Peace Quotes For The World

First published March 03, 2022. Revised August 03, 2022

While the world continues to absorb the shock over the full military invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a situation that was unthinkable just a few months ago, I am equally in awe over the swift and unified response by the Western nations, as I am horrified by this unparalleled geopolitical crisis unfolding before us over the last  five months.
 
I was born and raised in Germany, surrounded by many cultures and languages, and I was used to driving just 2-3 hours in every direction and being in a different country. We drove over to Switzerland just to buy chocolate and coffee, and frequently spent a weekend at Lago di Garda, Italy or in Paris, France. My dad lived in Austria for his final years, and we would sometimes drive via Budapest, Bratislava or Prague to visit him and my stepmom at their home in Austria.
 
Hungary and Slovakia are both neighbors to Ukraine, and the very thought that there is a bloody war raging in this country just around the corner with millions of people uprooted and in refuge, while countless others die, is absolutely curdling my blood!
 
There is hardly a person in Europe who doesn’t know somebody in Ukraine!

I firmly reject this unjust aggression, which is truly Putin’s war, and not a war of the Russian people against a brotherly neighbor state.
 

As with all armed conflicts, the humanitarian pain and suffering is severe, and it is a fight that no one can truly win.
 

I pray for the safety, strength, and perseverance of the courageous Ukrainian people, who want to live in a sovereign country, unshackled from tyranny and oppression, and to freely determine their own future.
 
A lasting solution to a crisis can never be won by a conquest of weapons, but only by a conquest of hearts!
 
It is not with a tactical change in the way we fight a war, but with a mindset change about the reasons that brought us here, that can crack open doors towards common ground and dialogue again.

This article is dedicated to peace and harmony in the world, in an attempt to change our collective emotional response to this crisis from fear to love and compassion.
 
We have to slow and reverse the ever-escalating tensions, and I believe that a powerful message of peace felt deeply within our hearts, directed at all parties without restraint, can not only help us cope, but also change the energetic vibration all around us from the darkness back into the light.
 

Use the below reflections on peace to shower onto everyone in our thoughts near and far, to push out into the world as a loving embrace, especially at a time when we feel consumed by emotions that are feeding the beast.
 
Let us send a vibrant message for ending this  war into the world, so that we can trigger a wave of the most noble of all emotions, which is compassion!

50 Quotes To Inspire Peace In Your Heart And In The World

1. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." - Martin Luther King Jr.
2. “It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.” – Aristotle
3. “The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.” – Carlos Santana
4. “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.” - Mahatma Gandhi
5. “It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.” - Martin Luther King Jr.
6. "Those who are at war with others are not at peace with themselves." - William Hazlitt
7. “Peace does not mean an absence of conflicts; differences will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means; through dialogue, education, knowledge; and through humane ways.” - Dalai Lama
8. "Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something; forgiveness, however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on." - Criss Jami, Salomé
9. "If you don't know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he's just like you. He has the same dreams, the same hopes, and fears. It's one world, pal. We're all neighbors." - Frank Sinatra
10. "No person, no place, and no thing has any power over us, for 'we' are the only thinkers in our mind. When we create peace and harmony and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.” - Louise L. Hay
11. “Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us and the world will be as one.” - John Lennon, 'Imagine'
12. “Being relaxed, at peace with yourself, confident, emotionally neutral loose, and free-floating — these are the keys to successful performance in almost everything.” - Wayne Dyer
13. “I speak of peace, therefore, as the necessary rational end of rational men. I realize the pursuit of peace is not as dramatic as the pursuit of war… But we have no more urgent task.” John F. Kennedy
14. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead
15. “You never change anything by fighting the existing. To change something, build a new model, and make the existing obsolete!” – Buckminster Fuller
16. “Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration, and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower
17. “Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that generation.” - Nelson Mandela
18. “Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” - Victor Frankl
19. “The very first step in nonviolence is that we cultivate in our daily life, as between ourselves, truthfulness, humility, tolerance, loving kindness.” – Mahatma Gandhi
20. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
21. “By peace we mean the capacity to transform conflicts with empathy, without violence, and creatively - a never-ending process” - Johan Galtung
22. “Ego says, ‘Once everything falls into place, I’ll feel peace.’ Spirit says, ‘Find your peace, and then everything will fall into place’.” - Marianne Williamson
23. “Anger is the ultimate destroyer of peace of mind.” - Dalai Lama
24. “It’s time for us to turn to each other, not on each other.” -Jesse Jackson
25. "Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." - Desmond Tutu
26. “Do not be afraid to take a chance on peace, to teach peace, to live peace…Peace will be the last word of history.” -  Pope John Paul II
27. “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 at it.” - Eleanor Roosevelt
28. "If we ourselves remain angry and then sing world peace, it has little meaning. First, our individual self must learn peace. This we can practice. Then we can teach the rest of the world." - Dalai Lama
29. "One little person, giving all of her time to peace, makes news. Many people, giving some of their time, can make history." - Peace Pilgrim
30. " If you want peace of mind, stop fighting with your thoughts.” – Unknown
31. “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” - Seymour Miller
32. "Peace is something we must all work for, every day." - Ban Ki-moon
33. "Be selective in your battles. Sometimes peace is better than being right." – Unknown
34. “Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.” – Buddha
35. “If everyone demanded peace instead of another television set, then there’d be peace.”
    • John Lennon
36. “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” - Muhammad Ali
37. “You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.” - Publilius Syrus
38. "You who want peace can find it only by complete forgiveness." - Helen Schucman
39. "Peace and harmony can only remove human suffering and degradation." - M K Soni
40. "The real and lasting victories are those of peace, and not of war." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
41. "Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin." - Dwight D. Eisenhower
42. "An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind." - Mahatma Gandhi
43. "If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart.” - Lao Tzu
44. "Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding." - Albert Einstein
45. “When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.”
    • Jimi Hendrix
46. "Compassion is the signature of Higher Consciousness. Non-violence is the tool to evolve into the Higher Consciousness." - Amit Ray
47. "Peace is not something that can be 'achieved' but rather something that one must become." Beau Norton
48. The way of peace is the way of love. Love is the greatest power on earth. It conquers all things.” - Peace Pilgrim
49. “Happiness and peace will come to earth only as the light of love and human compassion enter the souls of men.” - David O. McKay
50. “Be a peacemaker in everyday life. Display peace in everything you do. Be peace. Live in peace.” - Buddhist Proverb

Ina Mohan