Inspiring Quotations...

"We need to adopt the mindset of most professional futurists and become systemic optimists - those who believe that life can get better, but only if we fundamentally alter the way we think and do things. We need to embrace whole-system change." Richard Eckersley, fellow at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University, Canberra.

"And that's what the universe is -- a vast system of cooperation. Though many contemporary social institutions teach us to see others as enemies or potential rivals for scarce resources, the truth is that we live in a world in which the basic principle is one of cooperation." Michael Lerner's Spirit Matters (p. 45)

Some Quotes from Mahatma Gandhi:

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
The first principle of nonviolent action is that of non-cooperation with everything humiliating.
A nonviolent revolution is not a program of seizure of power. It is a program of transformation of relationships, ending in a peaceful transfer of power.
One has to speak out and stand up for one's convictions. Inaction at a time of conflagration is inexcusable.
Nonviolence will prevail - whatever man may or may not do ... It will have its way and overcome all obstacles irrespective of the shortcoming of the instruments.
Mankind has to get out of violence only through non-violence. Hatred can be overcome only by love. Counter hatred only increases the surface as well as the depth of hatred.
I regard the employment of the atom bomb for the wholesale destruction of men, women and children as the most diabolical use of science.
Nonviolent defence neither knows nor accepts defeat at any stage. Therefore a nation or a group which has made nonviolence its final policy can not be sugjected to slavery even by the atom bomb.
Goodness must be joined with knowledge. Mere goodness is not of much use, as I have found in life. One must cultivate the fine discriminating quality which goes with spiritual courage and character.
Nonviolence is the noblest as well as the most effective way of defending one's rights.
A 'satyagrahi' is one who is consecrated to nonviolent defence of the truth.
Ahimsa is an attribute of the brave. Cowardice and ahimsa do not go together any more than water and fire.
If we remain nonviolent, hatred will die as everything does from disuse.
Without the recognition of nonviolence on a national scale there is no such thing as a constitutional or democratic government.
Peace will never come unless the great powers courageously decide to disarm themselves.
The cause of liberty becomes a mockery if the price to be paid is the wholesale destruction of those who are to enjoy liberty.
Liberty and democracy become unholy when their hands are dyed red with innocent blood.
A reformer has to sail not with the current. Very often he has to go against it even though it may cost him his life.
Ahimsa calls for the strength and courage to suffer without retaliation, to receive blows without returning any. But that does not exhaust its meaning. Silence becomes cowardice when occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.
To benefit by others' killing and delude oneself into belief that one is being religious and nonviolent is self-deception.
There can be degree in violence, not in nonviolence. The constant effort of the votary of nonviolence is to purge himself of hatred toward the so-called enemy. There is no such thing as shooting out of love.
Two basic maxims for nonviolence: 1. Ahimsa is the supreme Law or Dharma, 2. There is no other Law or Dharma than Truth.
A satyagrahi should fast only as a last resort when all other avenues of redress have been explored and failed.
My fast should not be considered a political move in any sense of the term. It is obedience to the peremptory call of conscience and duty. It comes out of felt agony.
'First they ignore you; then they laugh at you; then they attack you; then you win'
"Non-violence is more powerful than all the armaments in the world. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."
"A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history"
Things undreamt of are daily being seen, the impossible is ever becoming possible. We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence.
"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
"I have not conceived my mission to be that of a knight-errant wandering everywhere to deliver people from difficult situations. My humble occupation has been to show people how to solve their own difficulties...my work will be finished if I succeed in carrying the conviction to the human family that every man of woman, however weak in body, is the guardian of his or her self-respect and liberty." Gandhi quote from Raghavan Iyer's, The Moral and Political Thought of Mahatma Gandhi, Oxford University Press, New York, 1973, p.373.
"The role of a civil protester is to provoke a response, keep protesting until they respond. ... They are not in control - we are."
"be prepared to make the injustice visible"

Some Quotes from Albert Einstein:

The 1932 Disarmament Conference, Berlin, September 4, 1931: "What the inventive genius of mankind has bestowed upon us in the last hundred years could have made human life care free and happy if the development of the organizing power of man had been able to keep step with his technical advances. As it is, the hardly bought achievements of the machine age in the hands of our generation are as dangerous as a razor in the hands of a 3-year-old child. The possession of wonderful means of production has not brought freedom--only care and hunger. Worst of all is the technical development which produces the means for the destruction of human life, and the dearly created products of labor. We older people lived through that shudderingly in the World War. But even more terrible than this destruction seems to me the unworthy servitude into which the individual is swept by war. Is it not terrible to be forced by the community to deeds which every individual feels to be most despicable crimes? Only a few have had the moral greatness to resist; they are in my eyes the true heroes of the World War. There is on ray of hope. It seems to me that today the responsible leaders of the several peoples have, in the main, the honest will to abolish war. The opposition to this unquestionably necessary advance lies in the unhappy traditions of the people which are passed on like an inherited disease from generation to generation because of our faulty educational machines. Of course the main supports of this tradition are military training and the larger industries. Without disarmament there can be no lasting peace. On the contrary, the continuation of military armaments in their present extent will with certainty lead to new catastrophes. Hence the Disarmament Conference in Geneva in February, 1932, will be decisive for the fate of the present generation and the one to come. If one thinks back to the pitiful results achieved by the international conferences thus far held, it must be clear that all thoughtful and responsible human beings must exercise all their powers again and again to inform public opinion of the vital importance of the conference of 1932. Only if the statesmen have, to urge them forward, the will to peace of a decisive majority in their respective countries, can they arrive at their important goal. For the creation of this public opinion in favor of disarmament every person living shares the responsibility, through every deed and every word. The failure of the conference would be assured if the delegates were to arrive in Geneva with fixed instructions and aims, the achievement of which would at once become a matter of national prestige. This seems to be universally recognized, for the meetings of the statesmen of any two states, of which we have seen a number of late, have been utilized for discussions of the problem of disarmament in order to clear the ground for the conference. This procedure seems to me a very happy one, for two persons, or two groups, ordinarily conduct themselves most sensibly, most honorably, and with the greatest freedom from passion if no third person listens in, whom the others believe they must consider or conciliate in their speeches. We can only hope for a favorable outcome in this most vital conference if the meeting is prepared for exhaustively in this way by advance discussions in order that surprises shall be made impossible, and if, through honest good will, an atmosphere of mutual confidence and trust can be effectively created in advance. Success in such great affairs is not a matter of cleverness, or even shrewdness, but instead a matter of honorable conduct and mutual confidence. You cannot substitute intellect for moral conduct in this matter--I should like to say, thank God that you cannot! It is not the task of the individual who lives in this critical time merely to await results and to criticize. He must serve this great cause as well as he can. For the fate of all humanity will be that fate which it honestly earns and deserves."
Not until the creation and maintenance of decent conditions of life for all people are recognized and accepted as a common obligation of all people and all countries - not until then shall we, with a certain degree of justification, be able to speak of humankind as civilized.
"Shall we put an end to the human race or shall mankind renounce war?" Russell-Einstein Manifesto of 1955 http://www.pugwash.org/about/manifesto.htm
“Peace is not merely the absence of war but the presence of justice, of law, of order--in short, of government.”
Nothing that I can do will change the structure of the universe. But maybe, by raising my voice, I can help in the greatest of all causes -- goodwill among men and peace on earth. Albert Einstein, c 1920.

Some Quotes from Martin Luther King Jr.:

"The supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force."

· "while the nonviolent resister is passive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent, his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade his opponent that he is wrong. The method is passive physically, but strongly active spiritually. It is not passive non?resistance to evil, it is active nonviolent resistance to evil."

Martin Luther King, Jr., pointed out that fear can suppress anger, while anger can produce the courage that overcomes fear: "The long repressed feelings of resentment on the part of the Negroes had begun to stir. The fear and apathy which had for so long cast a shadow on the life of the Negro community were gradually fading before a new spirit of courage and self-respect."
"In conclusion let me say that Dr. DuBois' (founder of the NAACP) greatest virtue was his committed empathy with all the oppressed and his divine dissatisfaction with all forms of injustice. Today we are still challenged to be dissatisfied. Let us be dissatisfied until every man can have food and material necessities for his body, culture and education for his mind, freedom and human dignity for his spirit...Let us be dissatisfied until our brother of the Third World - Asia, Africa and Latin America - will no longer be the victim of imperialist exploitation, but will be lifted from the long night of poverty, illiteracy and disease. Let us be dissatisfied until this pending cosmic elegy will be transformed into a creative psalm of peace and "justice will roll down like waters from a mighty stream."
"Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate. Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.... Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." "Where do we go from here?", August 1967
"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate.... Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
" Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest. "
Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I have a dream" http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/Docs/march.html "... I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down at the table of brotherhood ... I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. ..."
"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools"
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of controversy."
"A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard."
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
"I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."
"I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. ... So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man." (Speech in Memphis, April 3, 1968. King was assassinated the next day.)
download and see short 2 minute Martin Luther King video

Some Quotes from Nelson Mandela:

"One of our strongest weapons is dialogue."
"If the criticism is valid, it must be made."
"Make every home, every shack or rickety structure a centre of learning."
"No power on earth can stop an oppressed people determined to win their freedom."
"When a government seeks to suppress a peaceful demonstration of an unarmed people by mobilizing the entire reserves of the state, military and police, it concedes powerful mass support for such a demonstration."
"I had no epiphany, no singular revelation, no moment of truth, but a steady accumulation of a thousand slights, a thousand indignities and a thousand unremembered moments produced in me an anger, a rebelliousness, a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people. There was no particular day on which I said, Henceforth I will devote myself to the liberation of my people; instead, I simply found myself doing so, and could not do otherwise."

Some Quotes by Dr. Johan Galtung ('father' of peace research):

A part of the human vulnerability is short time perspective combined with a single-peaked time cosmology, easily leading to exaggerated optimism and exaggerated pessimism. A long time perspective and wave-like time philosophy, inspire perseverance.
The gandhian action September 11 would have been to organize, with the same precision and synchronization, and on a global scale, massive demonstrations around all US-Western-Japanese embassies in the world, surrounding them by the thousands, totally nonviolently, presenting the facts of global injustice, inviting dialogue. And not only the economic exploitation but all dimensions of class: the political monopolies and manipulation in Palestine and Afghanistan, the military violence in Iraq and elsewhere, the cultural domination through the media and other means, the sacrilege in Arabia./30/ And there would have been a massive world boycott of the goods and products from the most objectionable, least socially and ecologically conscious, global corporations that same day, combined with promotion of concrete action for an economy privileging basic needs for the most needy; all of this far beyond Seattle, Gothenburg, Genova. The demand would be for dialogue between people and government, assuming that they, democrats all, will never be scared of meeting people. Would this have an impact on the hard, corporate US/West backed by police and military power? In the longer run yes, and it would have saved thousands of lives in New York, Washington DC and all over Afghanistan so far. Soon maybe many, many more.
When the chips are all down, like for the cases of slavery and colonialism, massive global injustice is not a problem of force, counterforce, and cycles of retaliation. Basically it is a moral problem, just like the other two. And here the underdog has the upper hand, low in status, but high on moral standing; and more so the more nonviolently he conducts the struggle. The topdog may win the game of force. But not the moral issue - and when that dawns upon him and his allies, change of consciousness sets in, and demoralization starts thawing the frozen heart. The game is over. And deep in the guts the better among those at the top know this already - brutally woken up by three planes raping three buildings. By the September 11 wake-up call.
When asked how he keeps himself so cheerful in the face of so much ignorance and pain, Dr. Johan Galtung said, "I celebrate the joy of life." His recipe for happiness is "Enjoy the smallest things you take for granted. Just stand up – curl your toes."

Some Quotes by Noam Chomsky (noted American linguist and US media and foreign policy critic):

"It's quite understandable that concentrations of power should pursue those ends. It makes good sense. Understanding can liberate people to design and follow very different paths, to overcome the injustice and the needless suffering that deface contemporary civilisation, to defend 'the substance of society', to enrich it for themselves and for others and to show that human beings are something better than the ridiculous creatures that are crafted by contemporary ideology and the power that it serves." Noam Chomsky, Whose World Order: Conflicting Visions http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~gharris/ ; updated in the Summer/Fall 2001 issue of the McGill International Review http://www.irsam.ca/mir/
"The first step is to penetrate the clouds of deceit and distortion and learn the truth about the world, then to organize and act to change it. That's never been impossible and never been easy."
"The first step is to penetrate the clouds of deceit and distortion and learn the truth about the world, then to organise and act to change it. That's never been impossible and never been easy."
"If you assume that there's no hope, you guarantee that there will be no hope. If you assume that there is an instinct for freedom, that there are opportunities to change things, there's a chance you may contribute to making a better world. That's your choice"
"There is no reason to accept the doctrines crafted to sustain power and privilege, or to believe that we are constrained by mysterious and unknown social laws. These are simply decisions made within institutions that are subject to human will and that must face the test of legitimacy. And if they do not meet the test, they can be replaced by other institutions that are more free and more just, as has happened often in the past."

"You are either part of the problem or part of the solution." Eldridge Cleaver (emphasizes non-neutrality of inaction)

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him ... The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself ... All progress depends on the unreasonable man." George Bernard Shaw

"Peace is not only better than war, but infinitely more arduous." George Bernard Shaw

"You see things, and you say 'Why?' But I dream things that never were, and I say 'Why not?' " George Bernard Shaw

Development leads to conflict and conflict leads to development!

"Activism is contingent on a kind of tough optimism, a stubborn belief that our power is our own and that it is enough to change the world. In other words, activism and social change must be preceded by hope. This hope is necessary if we are ever to escape the cycles of violence between nations and create a lasting peace." The http://www.9-11peace.org/ bulletin

"The people of the western world have been trained to be good consumers; to focus on money, sports cars, beauty, consumer goods. They have not been trained to look for character in people. Therefore what we need is education for politicians, a form of training that instills in them a higher sense of ethics than service to money. There is no training now for world leaders. This is a shame because of the responsibility that leaders hold to benefit all mankind rather than to blindly pursue destructive paths. We also need education for citizens to be more efficient in their democracies, in addition to education for politicians that will create a new network of elites based upon character and social intelligence." Dr. Johannes B. Koeppl, Ph.D. a former German defense ministry official and advisor to former NATO Secretary General Manfred Werner.

As a mark of his respect for all religions and for all human beings Ghandi incorporated into his daily prayer relevant hymns or daily prayers, but he influenced millions in India to use them also. "My effort should never be to undermine another's faith but to make him a better follower of his own faith." M.K. Gandhi. All these selected passages have the underlying theme of PEACE:

Hindu Peace Prayer
I desire neither earthly kingdom, nor even freedom from birth and death. I desire only the deliverance from grief of all those afflicted by misery. Oh Lord, lead us from the unreal to the real; from darkness to light; from death to immortality. May there be peace in celestial regions. May there be peace on earth. May the waters be appeasing. May herbs be wholesome and may trees and plants bring peace to all. May all beneficent beings bring peace to us. May thy wisdom spread peace all through the world. May all things be a source of peace to all and to me. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti (Peace, Peace, Peace).

Islamic Peace Prayer
We think of Thee, worship Thee, bow toThee as the Creator of this Universe; we seek refuge in Thee, the Truth, our only support. Thou art the Ruler, the barge in this ocean of endless births and deaths. In the name of Allah, the beneficient, the merciful. Praise be to the Lord of the Universe who has created us and made us into tribes and nations. Give us wisdom that we may know each other and not despise all things. We shall abide by thy Peace. And, we shall remember the servants of God are those who walk on this earth in humility and, when we addrss them, we shall say Peace Unto Us All.

Christian Peace Prayer
Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS, for they shall be known as The Children of God. But I say to you: love your enemy, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To those who strike you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from those who take away your cloak, do not withhold your coat as well. Give to everyone who begs from you; and, to those who take away your goods, do not ask them again. And as you wish that others would do unto you, do so unto them as well.

Jewish Peace Prayer
Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the Most High. And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation - neither shall they learn war any more. And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.

Shinto Peace Prayer
Although the people living across the ocean surrounding us are all our brothers and sisters why, Oh Lord, is there trouble in this world? Why do winds and waves rise in the ocean surrounding us? I earnestly wish the wind will soon blow away all the clouds hanging over the tops of the mountains.

Baha'i Writing
Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbour, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgement, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm for the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar to the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility. (Gleanings from the Writings of BAHA'U'LLAH, CXXX)

"The day will come when the progress of nations will be judged not by their military or economic strength, nor by the splendour of their capital cities and public buildings, but by the well-being of their peoples: by their levels of health, nutrition and education; by their opportunities to earn a fair reward for their labours; by their ability to participate in the decisions that affect their lives; by the respect that is shown for their civil and political liberties; by the provision that is made for those who are vulnerable and disadvantaged; and by the protection that is afforded to the growing minds and bodies of their children." Peter Adamson of UNICEF (Preamble to the Progress of Nations Report 1993--following up on promises made at the World Summit for Children in l990)

"people have a right and a duty to point out where our national policies are mistaken" Crandall R. Kline Jr.

"One has probably learned in kindergarten the fundamentals of foreign policy: Don't cheat. Don't lie. Don't steal. Don't kill. Don't hate. Don't seek revenge. Be responsible. Treat others with respect. Seek friends who follow these rules." Crandall R. Kline Jr.

Helen Caldicott says that with the birth of her first child, she realized "that I would die to save the lives of my children. At that moment I accepted personal responsibility for stopping the nuclear arms race."

It was anger that transformed W.E.B. DuBois from a scholar, brilliant but ineffective in a world of exploitation and racism, into a powerful activist for civil rights: "At the very time when my studies were most successful, there cut across this plan which I had as a scientist, a red ray which could not be ignored. I remember when it first, as it were, startled me to my feet....The news met me: Sam Hose had been lynched, and they said that his knuckles were on exhibition at a grocery store....I began to turn aside from my work....One could not be a calm, cool, and detached scientist while Negroes were lynched, murdered, and starved."

The motto of Frederick Douglass, the American slave who fought his way to freedom and became a hero of the emancipation a generation before: "without struggle, there can be no progress."

As Sandy Pollack wrote, "I have to work for what I want, and that's where the beauty and joy lies...when I'm engaged in 'struggle,' in accomplishing anything of any sort, I'm not depressed - but feel rather good."

"Many seem to believe that it has simply become impossible for an individual to influence the course of national and world events. I disagree. My experience in Australia from 1971 to 1976 taught me that democracy can still be made to work - that by exerting electoral pressure, an aroused citizenry can still move its government to the side of morality and common sense. In fact, the momentum for movement in this direction can only originate in the heart and mind of the individual citizen. Moreover, it takes only one person to initiate the process, and that person may be politically naive and inexperienced, just as I was when I first spoke out." Helen Caldicott

Some Quotes from David Adams, Psychology for Peace Activists http://www.culture-of-peace.info/ppa/title-page.html [5 Star Must Reading]:

"The acquisition of values and purpose is only a beginning of consciousness development. Further development depends not only upon ideas, but must come through practice as well ... But practice for justice and peace, in a society dominated by militarism and material gain does not come easily. It takes courage and motivation, the key to which is the emotion of anger. In one autobiography after another we find the same story - the initial action for peace and justice is motivated by anger against injustice. Like the spark that ignites the fuel in an engine, anger is the stimulus that initiates action ... If anger is not guided by the optimism of vision and clear humanistic values, it can be diverted into desperate and anti-human activities. The enemies of peace and justice often try to exploit anger in order to divert movements into such desperation "
At higher levels of consciousness development, anger, unlike fear, can be harnessed by affiliation and put to work as a powerful force for social change. Rather than the emotion of a single individual setting forth into action, it becomes the battle cry of the movement. Martin Luther King saw this as a critical truth and a secret of the success of W.E.B. DuBois as a leader of the civil rights and peace movements: "History had taught him it is not enough for people to be angry - the supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force."

· We don't need any special psychological principle to explain why activists move on to the step of affiliation: quite simply they find that the power of their action is greater when they work in a group rather than alone. As Debs concluded at the end of his life, "Unorganized you are helpless, you are held in contempt. Power comes through unity. Affiliation is not just a practical matter; it produces a psychological transformation. Purpose becomes shared. Anger is collectivized. Action becomes not only effective, but also more complex, with a division of labor... Affiliation provides not only inspiration, but it also provides a necessary psychological support to initiate and sustain difficult actions... More than any other step of consciousness development, affiliation requires the learning of psychological skills."

· "To sustain action and affiliation, these steps must be integrated with an activist's other social relations, including family, friendships, and means of earning a living. The question of personal integration is especially important because it enables an activist to sustain a lifetime of involvement and to avoid the danger of burnout. The danger of burnout is especially great for peace and justice activists because more than others, they are confronted by deliberate pressures from the forces of militarism and exploitation. These pressures can be overwhelming such as those that led to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Most major peace activists have been under attack by the police and mass media, and many have been sent to prison at one time or another."

· "To sustain the struggle, activists must share the burden of political responsibility with other people in their organizations - developing relationships of mutual support. Otherwise, the whole "burden of the world" seems to sit on their shoulders alone, and eventually the stress becomes too much for a single individual to take. ... "Burnout" is not just the absence of the feeling of social support, but it is also a particular psychological state that may deepen by degrees into depression with inactivity, disaffiliation, despair, debauchery, guilt, exhaustion, nervous and physical illness.... Personal integration provides not only practical support, but it also produces an enriching and rewarding psychological transformation. By integrating each new affiliation with their previous networks of personal relationships and group affiliations, King, Debs, and Day (after meeting Maurin) were able to grow not just in public stature and strength, but also in private individuality. They were not "swallowed up" by their new affiliations and did not lose their individuality..."

· For most people, including many activists for peace and justice, the step of personal integration is the highest step of consciousness development. But the peace movement needs leadership and for that a higher step of consciousness is needed, world-historic consciousness. ... World-historic consciousness, the highest step of consciousness, is not the quality of an individual acting alone, but of a leader working in affiliation. It is the kind of leadership that enables action and affiliation for peace and justice to develop in an effective and progressive rather than a narrow and sectarian direction. It's the ability of a leader to know the mood of the people, to analyze the strengths and directions of all political forces, and to organize and broaden the political character of the movement so that it is in step with the agenda of history, which, in the present time, means the abolition of war. ... First of all, a leader must know the mood of the people. This can come only from long and direct experience working among them. ... Second, a leader must understand the strengths and directions of all political forces in a systemic, not a superficial way. Such understanding must be "radical" - it must go to the roots of things - their economic and social causes. It must not be content with talk of superficial change, but must recognize that peace requires fundamental economic and political changes in society.... World-historic consciousness requires what Helen Caldicott has called, "a global view of reality and a sense of moral responsibility for humanity's future." Jane Addams called it "a new consciousness, a nascent world consciousness:"

· "at the present time the achievement of peace with justice is the primary issue on the agenda of history. All other activism for social justice is related, in one way or another, to the quest for peace; it will all come to nothing if civilization goes up in the flames of nuclear war. Today we have the opportunity to achieve a higher level of consciousness than in any previous period of history. Never before has there been such a single, universal threat to our species and such an all-inclusive, world-wide task as the task of abolishing war. Never before has our species as a whole been faced with its own ultimate question of life or death. We have come full circle: the species consciousness that gave each of us the opportunity to attain individual consciousness is now endangered; and only the full development of individual consciousness in the masses of humanity can save it."

· If we are to see the replacement of the culture of war with a culture of peace, it will be necessary to replace the use and/or threat of military force for internal state control with a system of democracy which can ensure stability without coercion. This task requires an economy of peace, as well as political institutions of participative democracy.

· The current system of militarism and inequality promotes war, violence and injustice ... "proclaim the values of peace and justice ... the pursuit of peace as the purpose of life ... promote the values of peace and justice in the government, the mass media, and the educational systems. . Whether it is the election of Congressional candidates who will speak out and work for peace, or the struggle for peace education programs in the public schools and universities, or the task of printing letters-to-editors or appearing on talk shows in order to provide an alternative to the media's militarism, the task is difficult, but ultimately necessary and rewarding."

· Many see the rise in anger as a sign for despair, but the new psychology will see it as a force to be harnessed. ... Anger is a skill that needs to be harnessed so that it is used constructively rather than destructively. ... The new psychology must help engage people in today's "social motor," which is the peace movement, teaching them that their anger takes on constructive value within that social context. ... The use of fear must not be encouraged, but must be exposed as the method of militarism and repression. ... As well as providing a concrete basis for optimism, the new psychology should directly combat the psychological warfare of pessimism.

"Maybe we aren't on a one-way road to oblivion. Maybe we're standing at a crossroad, facing what may be the most important choice human beings have ever faced, a choice between two directions. In one direction is what we will have if we do nothing to alter our present course. By doing nothing, we are choosing a world of pollution and extinctions, of widening chasms and deepening despair, a world where humanity moves ever farther from achieving its highest aspirations and ever nearer to living its darkest fears. Our other choice is to actively engage with the living world. On this path we work responsibly and joyfully to make our lives, and our societies, into expressions of our love for ourselves, for each other, and for the living Earth. In this direction we honor our longing to give our children, and all children, a world with clean air and water, with blue skies and abundant wildlife, with a stable climate and a healthy environment. If you live with fear for our future, you are not alone. If you live with dreams of a better world, you are not alone. We all live, now, with both the pain and the possibility we carry in our hearts, both the despair and the hope that we may yet learn to live in harmony with our precious and endangered Earth. There is not a person alive today who does not, at some level, know we are facing these two directions, and understand how much is at stake. I am aware how strong are the forces of ignorance, greed, and denial in our society. I know it is possible that we won't make it. But I am also aware of how strong is the longing and the love of life in the human heart. And so I know it is possible that we will make it, that we will create a sustainable economy that protects the living systems of the Earth, that we will come to be part of the world's repair. The power of darkness in our world is great, but it is not as great as the power of the human spirit. We can learn to provide for our needs and limit our numbers while cherishing this beautiful planet and its creatures. It is in our nature to honor the sacredness of life. What is at stake today is enormous; it is the destiny of life on Earth. At such a time, walking a path of honoring ourselves and the living planet is our responsibility as citizens of the planet, but it is something more, as well. It is also a joy, and a privilege." John Robbins http://www.foodrevolution.org/

But also weep, and not just for the victims of terrorism. I favor an all-out war on terrorism done intelligently, but I also believe that if $40 billion extra was voted for the environment, energy, or other worthy causes (there has never been a remote chance of that) the deaths avoided in America alone, would be many million, a thousand times greater than the number that perished in the 9/11/01 attack. That death reduction would come from the reduction of toxic wastes and air, soil and water pollution; the eradication of devastating diseases and the protection and conservation of vital resources, and in time a far better economy. Alan F. Kay, PhD. Harvard, e-mailmailto:%20i@alanfkay.com, was co-founder of a military research and development firm (1954-1963) and founder and CEO (1966-1979) of AutEx, supplier of "marketplace" systems to industry. http://www.wfs.org/eskay.htm

I think it was not long after my daughter was born, in 1989, that I came to the conclusion that, logically, there was no reason for hope for the earth and humanity. We were (are?) doomed to destroy the earth and our own species because of overconsumption, overpopulation and war. And yet, I had always worked for peace, knowing that I would continue this work, even if it were somehow possible to know that we were destined to blow up the earth... and I sensed that choice, to continue to hope, to have enough humility to know that what my brain tells me about our chances may not be the whole truth, was vital. I saw that at the root of our problems was our economic system and went looking for answers. ... Then personal upheaval had one upside, that of allowing me to see, for myself, that the world is "stranger" than it first appears, that "miracles" can indeed happen. That, and having read books which validate that conclusion, have led me to the point where I consciously talk about "globalizing love" for instance. Jan Slakov, October 2001

Winston Churchill took the Bush view of his enemies. In 1945, he preferred the straightforward execution of the Nazi leadership. Yet despite the fact that Hitler's monsters were responsible for at least 50 million deaths -- 10,000 times greater than the victims of 11 September -- the Nazi murderers were given a trial at Nuremberg because US President Truman made a remarkable decision. "Undiscriminating executions or punishments," he said, "without definite findings of guilt fairly arrived at, would not fit easily on the American conscience or be remembered by our children with pride." Robert Fisk

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest- in perfect peace. Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why? >"Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace." Author Unknown

For Canadians, though, the most prescient words come from former UN General Assembly president and prime minister Lester Pearson, in his 1957 acceptance speech during the Cold War. His words could have been written today: "The stark and inescapable fact is that today we cannot defend our society by war since total war is total destruction, and if war is used as an instrument of policy, eventually we will have total war. Therefore, the best defence of peace is not power, but the removal of the causes of war, and international agreements which will put peace on a stronger foundation than the terror of destruction," he said. Because there is always an end, it isn't enough just to fight a war. That's why the biggest question to be answered by the United States and its allies isn't who to kill in this war against terrorism, but what will happen after. Pearson believed it wasn't in armaments and materiel that solutions were found, but in people. "It would be folly to expect quick, easy or total solutions. It would be folly also to expect hostility and fears suddenly to vanish. But it is equal, or even greater folly to do nothing; to sit back, answer missile with missile ... it would not make for peace." During the Korean conflict, Pearson advised calling off the fighting as soon as the immediate aim had been achieved; creating a situation in which it would be possible to work for the ultimate goal of peace. The solution, said Pearson at the Nobel awards, always returns "to one person and his own individual response to the challenges that confront him." courtesy of Catherine Ford, Calgary Herald, October 12, 2001.

On Sept. 11, as the world looked on in horror and disbelief, my husband, Craig Scott Amundson, of the U.S. Army, lost his life in the line of duty at the Pentagon. Losing my 28-year-old husband and father of our two young children is a terrible and painful experience. His death is also part of an immense national loss, and I am comforted by knowing so many share my grief. But because I have lost Craig as part of this historic tragedy, my anguish is compounded exponentially by fear that his death will be used to justify new violence against other innocent victims. I have heard angry rhetoric by some Americans, including many of the nation's leaders, who advise a heavy dose of revenge and punishment. To those leaders, I would like to make clear that my family and I take no comfort in their words of rage. If they choose to respond to this incomprehensible brutality by perpetuating violence against other innocent human beings, they may not do so in the name of justice for my husband. Such rhetoric and imminent acts of revenge only amplify our family's suffering, deny us the dignity of remembering our loved one in a way that would have made him proud and mock his vision of America as a peacemaker in the world community. Craig enlisted in the army and was proud to serve his county. He was a patriotic American and a citizen of the world. Craig believed that by working from within the military system he could help to maintain the military focus on peacekeeping and strategic planning - to prevent violence and war. For the last two years Craig drove to his job at the Pentagon with a "visualize world peace" bumper sticker. This was not empty rhetoric or contradictory to him, but part of his dream. He believed that his role in the Army could further the cause of peace throughout the world. Craig would not have wanted a violent response to avenge his death. And I cannot see how good can come out of it. We cannot solve violence with violence. Revenge is a self- perpetuating cycle. I ask the nation's leaders not to take the path that leads to more widespread hatreds - that makes my husband's death just one more in an unending spiral of killing. I call on them to find the courage to respond to this incomprehensible tragedy by breaking the cycle of violence. I call on them to focus on working for justice and peace around the globe. In these dark days of intense sadness, I have been inspired by the lyrics from a Tracy Chapman album that Craig bought me when our first child was born. They said: "There's too much fighting, too little understanding. It's time to stop and start all over, make a new beginning." AMBER AMUNDSON. Washington.

My husband, Tom Theurkauf, lost his life in the World Trade Center. I offer these thoughts both as a new widow and mother of three fatherless boys, and as a scholar of international law. As we assemble a military platform in the Arabian Sea, there is substantial consensus on one relevant point. While this attack was intended to provoke, responding in kind will only escalate the violence. Further, if we succumb to the understandable impulse to injure as we have been injured, and in the process create even newer widows and fatherless children, perhaps we will deserve what we get. If not "war," what words should we use? A better name is "international crime." In the short term, the priority should be to hunt down and arrest the criminals with the goal of achieving justice, not revenge. This is a task best left not to the military but to investigative police forces. Ordinary Americans can also fight back against this evil. We Americans can combat fear and hate by reaching out to Muslims in our communities. This show of solidarity will help thwart these criminals' purpose of creating division in American communities. Terrorist impulses ferment in cultures of poverty, oppression and ignorance. The elimination of those conditions and the active promotion of a universal respect for human rights must become a national security priority. The Bush administration's unilateralism has been revealed to be hollow. Rather than infringe our sovereignty, international institutions enhance our ability to perform the functions of national government, including the ability to fight international crime. Bombing Afghanistan today will not prevent tomorrow's tragedy. We must look beyond military options for long-term solutions. ROBIN THEURKAUF. New Haven, Connecticut.

Letters from Robin Theurkauf (International Herald Tribune Oct. 4) and Amber Amundson (Oct. 11), women who lost their husbands and their children's fathers on Sept. 11, have been a great inspiration to me. Both women call for truly courageous political leadership that would break the cycle of violence and promote universal respect for human rights. I wish that I could tell these women personally how much respect I have for them, for the generosity they show in their time of grief, loss and uncertainty by speaking out for peace on behalf of all people. When neighbors and colleagues ask me how I, as an American, can be opposed to the military action in Afghanistan, I think of these women and I find the answer. As a friend from New York wrote me, "unity in grief should not be taken as meaning unity in war." GRACE COSTON. Bagnolet, France.

"Go to people, live with them, love them, learn from them. Start with what they know, build with what they have, and work with the best leaders, so when the work is done, people can say, 'We did this ourselves.' " (Lao Tzu, 700 BC)

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for enough good people to do nothing. The only thing necessary for the triumph of good is for enough good people to do a little extra." (unknown)

"I make no apology about reverting to the emotional argument which may have been lost along the way." Musician and third world debt activist Bob Geldof, in response to public criticism of a new "Drop the Debt" campaign billboard advertisement in London, which features an emaciated black woman breast feeding a healthy white baby.

"No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come". -Victor Hugo(1802 - 1885)

"There is only one power available to citizens which does not require great wealth or the use of violence. It is the power of collective persuasion. It works on the subtle levels of thought and conversation and it works directly through democracy."

"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do." Hellen Keller

Dear (reader): I was in Queenston Drive Public School, Mississauga, Ontario this morning and in the hall, outside the Principle's office, they had some chart paper posted with the following information:
What We Planted in the Peace Garden
Grade 2M
>mint - cool thoughts
>heather - to discover yourself
>thyme - find the courage to find what your heart desires
>chives - absorb bad feelings
>parsley - to focus on our goals
>lavendar - for calmness
>nasturtium - for energy to face challenges
>catnip - for 4-footed friends
>bee balm - for punk rocker flowers
>violets - faithfulness
>periwinkle - love is the best goal
>sage - wisdom
These flower ideas from a Grade 2 class give us something to think about! Flower Power!!!
Best Regards, Doug Moore

"The Canadian peace movement plays an essential part in the new Canadian dialogue: for the peace movement challenges assumptions, not just policy, and forces us to examine those assumptions more closely." --External Affairs Minister Joe Clark

"I urge them (the peace movement) to strongly maintain the pressure at all times ... the pressure of honourable people working for the pursuit of peace is the strongest assurance democracy is healthy." --Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, House of Commons

"So I approach the pursuit of peace with determination, recognizing both the enormity of the task and the requirement for action. To those who say it cannot be done, I say it must be done. To those who say Canada can't do it alone, I say we can do it together. And to those who claim it is none of our business, I say the search for peace is everyone's business." --Prime Minister Brian Mulroney

"Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed... whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its power in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." - U.S. Declaration of Independence, 1776

"Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a coal-mouse asked a wild dove.

"Nothing more than nothing," was the answer.

"In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story," the coal-mouse said.

"I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow - not heavily, not in a raging blizzard - no, just like in a dream, without a wound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,741,952. When the 3,741,953rd dropped onto the branch, nothing more than nothing, as you say - the branch broke off."

Having said that, the coal-mouse flew away.

The dove, since Noah's time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for awhile, and finally said to herself, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace to come to the world."

From: Synchronicity- The Inner Path of Leadership by Joseph Jaworski

"The aim of education is the knowledge not of fact but of values." Dean Inge

"A different world is possible." The World Social Forum 2000 in southern Brazil

“It is a law of the universe that retaliation, hatred, and revenge only continue the cycle and never stop it. Reconciliation does not mean that we surrender rights and conditions, but rather that we use love. Our wisdom and compassion must walk together.” Maha Gosananda

"It is my belief that the lack of understanding of the true cause of happiness is the principal reason why people inflict suffering on others. Some people think that causing pain to others may lead to their own happiness or that their own happiness is of such importance that the pain of others is of no significance. But this is clearly shortsighted. No one truly benefits from causing harm to another being. Whatever immediate advantage is gained at the expense of someone else is short-lived. In the long run, causing others misery and infringing upon their peace and happieness creates anxiety, fear and suspicion for oneself. The development of love and compassion for others is essential for creating a better and more peaceful world." Dalai Lama

"Stronger than the tread of armies, is an idea whose time has come."

"When we dream alone, it is only a dream, but when we dream together, it is the beginning of a new reality."

"Peace is not something you wish for; it is something you make, something you do, something you are, and something you give away!" Robert Fulghum

General Omar Bradley: "Wars can be prevented just as surely as they can be provoked, and we who fail to prevent them must share in the guilt for the dead."

General Douglas MacArthur: "I have known war as few men now living know it. Its very destructiveness on both friend and foe has rendered it useless as a means of settling international disputes."

Dwight D. Eisenhower: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who are hungry and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed." Speaking "as one who has witnessed the horror and lingering sadness of war - as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization," he warned against the military-industrial complex.

John F. Kennedy: "Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind... War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today."

Lyndon B. Johnson: "The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships, all are symbols of human failure."

Pope John Paul II: "In the face of the man-made calamity that every war is, one must affirm and reaffirm, again and again, that the waging of war is not inevitable or unchangeable. Humanity is not destined to self-destruction. Clashes of ideologies, aspirations and needs can and must be settled and resolved by means other than war and violence."

Dr. Robert Jay Lifton has spent more than half a century pondering subjects like genocide, terrorism and nuclear extinction, but he
says he is not gloomy: "One's life work can be devoted to dreadful events without becoming deeply pessimistic." ... "I believe we must look into the abyss to see beyond it," he said. "I'm a hopeful person." (Dr. Lifton, a prolific author who is a psychiatrist and the director of the Center on Violence and Human Survival at John Jay College of Criminal Justice)

"If we ourselves remain always angry and then sing world peace, it has little meaning. So first our individual self must learn peace. This we can practice. Then we can teach the rest of the world." The Dalai Lama

THOUGHTS FROM THE WORLD’S TWELVE GREAT RELIGIONS ON "PEACE":

Buddhism - "The aim of all should be to learn peace and live peacefully with all"

Christianity - "We should seek the way of peace and finally come to peace with God"

Confucianism - "Seek to live in harmony with all your neighbors and at peace with thy brethren"

Hinduism - "If one would find happiness and security, one must seek for peace"

Islam - "God will guide men to peace"

Jainism - "All men should live in peace with their fellow beings. This is the Lord’s desire"

Judaism - "The peaceful life offers the greatest opportunity for happiness and prosperity"

Shintoism - "The earth shall be free from trouble and (we) shall live in peace under the protection of the divine"

Sikhism - "By saturating my mind, (The True Name) has satisfied all my longings, and given me peace and happiness"

Taoism - "The good ruler seeks peace and not war, and he rules by persuasion rather than by force"

Zoroastrainism - "All men and women should mutually love one another and live in peace as brothers and sisters, bound by the indestructible hand of Humanity"

Baha’i - "Today there is no greater glory for man than that of service in the cause of the ‘Most Great Peace’"

"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge truth and falsehood in an open market is afraid of its own people". John F. Kennedy

"In the literature of peacemaking and peacebuilding, such contemporary doers and thinkers as Gene Sharp, Arthur Laffin, Fran Schmidt and Michael True have persisted in arguing what Gandhi, Muriel Lester, Jeannette Rankin, Barbara Deming and earlier pacifists believed: Pacifism is not passivity or appeasement, non-violence is not non-action. They are the opposite. Pacifists cherish the use of force: the force of well-organized resistance against corrupt power, the force of ideas, justice and truth-telling, the force of anonymously working to create the social and political conditions in which peace and justice, not killing and hate, have a better chance of flowering." Colman McCarthy

"After slavery and apartheid, let’s abolish war." Archbishop Desmond Tutu, The Hague, May 4, l998.

“The abolition of war requires the development of effective nonviolent alternatives to military struggle” -Gene Sharp

“But war will only end after a great labour has been performed in altering men’s moral ideals, directing them to the good of all mankind and not only of the separate nations into which men happen to have been born.” -Bertrand Russell

"There is something better than victory, and that is the avoidance of war." Bertrand Russell

"They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore." Isaiah

"Today we are faced with the pre-eminent fact that, if civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships - the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together and to work together in the same world, at peace.... " Franklin D. Roosevelt

"We must proceed resolutely toward outlawing war completely and come to cultivate peace as a supreme good to which all programs and all strategies must be subordinated." Pope Paul

"Never give up. Never give up." Winston Churchill

Here is the poem, Why We Are Here, which author Robert Arthur Lewis was
distributing in Seattle, on the occasion of the World Trade Organization
Ministerial Summit in 1999:

Why We Are Here

Because the world we imagined, the one
we had always counted on
is disappearing.
Because the sun has become cancerous
and the planet is getting hotter.
Because children are starving in the shadows
of yachts and economic summits.
Because there are already too many planes in the sky.

This is the manufactured world
you have come here to codify and expedite.
We have come to tell you
there is something else we want to buy.

What we want, money no longer recognizes
like the vitality of nature, the integrity of work.
We don't want cheaper wood, we want living trees.
We don't want engineered fruit, we want to see and smell the
food growing
in our own neighborhoods.

We are here because a voice inside us,
a memory in our blood, tells us
you are not just a trade body, you are the blind tip
of a dark wave that has forgotten its source.
We are here to defend and honor
what is real, natural, human and basic
against the rising tide of greed.

We are here by the insistence of spirit and the authority of
nature.
If you doubt for one minute the power of truth
or the primacy of nature
try not breathing for that length of time.

Now you know the pressure of our desire.
We are not here to tinker with your laws.
We are here to change you from the inside out.
This is not a political protest.
It is an uprising of the soul.

-- Robert Arthur Lewis

Goals are the seeds from which the future grows. - Anon

"Understand the differences; Act on the commonalities." Andrew Masondo, African National Congress

"I believe that it is very important that we, as a society, teach people to be independent thinkers. This means not just taking everything that is told to us without critical review. It is unfortunate that government, advertisers, religions, etc. can not be trusted - but, at least in certain matters where they wish to control people's thoughts and actions, it is true. When the general public becomes educated to be independent thinkers, then these 'perpetrators of propaganda' will be forced to be honest and change for the better (in all respects) will occur. I think there would be very significant changes. Being an optimist, I trust that these changes would be good." Bob Stewart

" The only way to abolish war is to make peace heroic." John Dewey, American philosopher and educator, 1859-1952

" We may not be strong enough to stop wars when the powers that be want them, but at least we are wise and humane enough to take political and moral stands as publicly as possible. This is, after all, the foundation we must build from." Leslie Cagan, anti-war activist

"This focus on money and power may do wonders in the marketplace, but it creates a tremendous crisis in our society. People who have spent all day learning how to sell themselves and to manipulate others are in no position to form lasting friendships or intimate relationships... Many Americans hunger for a different kind of society -- one based on principles of caring, ethical and spiritual sensitivity, and communal solidarity. Their need for meaning is just as intense as their need for economic security."
Michael Lerner, journalist

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one. Mark Twain

There is no way to peace. Peace is the way. - A. J. Muste

One is happiest, whether royalty or peasant, when you find peace at home.

Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address "...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain..." http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/gadd/gtran.html

Engraved on a walkway in downtown Calgary (with respect to competition):

The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle.

Letter to the Editor of the Globe and Mail (October 4, 1999) in response to media editorial critical of the power of NGOs:

So, the editorial board of The Globe and Mail is miffed that Greenpeace, "unelected, unchecked by the discipline of power ... somehow makes public debate revolve around its preoccupations and prejudices."

And exactly who elected you guys?

Marjorie Nichol, Toronto

        Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful
        committed citizens can change the world,
        indeed it's the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead

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