Quotes on Peace from His Holiness The Dalai Lama

During troubled times, periods of distress, dis-ease and uncertainty, it is beneficial to have resources available to us to help us to refocus our attention on expressions of Loving Kindness. The Dalai Lama is a tremendous inspiration for such upliftment. We offer here a short compilation of quotes on Peace from HH Dalai Lama. Please enjoy!

Dalai Lama Quotes on Peace

“Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life.”

“World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.”

“When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.”

“One of the basic points is kindness. With kindness, with love and compassion, with his feeling that is the essence of brotherhood, sisterhood, one will have inner peace. This compassionate feeling is the basis of inner peace.”

“Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.”

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”

“We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.”

“If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.”

“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.”

“There needs to be understanding that anger never helps to solve a problem. It destroys our peace of mind and blinds our ability to think clearly. Anger and attachment are emotions that distort our view of reality.”

“The real destroyer of inner peace is fear and distrust. Fear develops frustration, frustration develops anger, anger develops violence.”

Dalai Lama on World Peace

“I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of inner peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion and elimination of ignorance, selfishness and greed.”

“If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another. If you wish to know that you are safe, cause another to know that they are safe. If you wish to better understand seemingly incomprehensible things, help another to better understand. If you wish to heal your own sadness or anger, seek to heal the sadness or anger of another.”

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

“Without inner peace it is impossible to have world peace.”

“The problems we face today, violent conflicts, destruction of nature, poverty, hunger, and so on, are human-created problems which can be resolved through human effort, understanding and the development of a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share.”

“Just as we take for granted the need to acquire proficiency in the basic academic subjects, I am hopeful that a time will come when we can take it for granted that children will learn, as part of the curriculum, the indispensability of inner values: love, compassion, justice, and forgiveness.”

“Every morning when I wake up, I dedicate myself to helping others to find peace of mind. Then, when I meet people, I think of them as long-term friends; I don’t regard others as strangers.”

“Peace, in the sense of the absence of war, is of little value to someone who is dying of hunger or cold. It will not remove the pain of torture inflicted on a prisoner of conscience. It does not comfort those who have lost their loved ones in floods caused by senseless deforestation in a neighboring country. Peace can only last where human rights are respected, where the people are fed, and where individuals and nations are free.”

“Consider that not only do negative thoughts and emotions destroy our experience of peace, they also undermine our health.”

“The practice of patience guards us against losing our presence of mind. It enables us to remain undisturbed, even when the situation is really difficult. It gives us a certain amount of inner peace, which allows us some self-control, so that we can choose to respond to situations in an appropriate and compassionate manner, rather than being driven by our disturbing emotions.”

“Material progress and a higher standard of living bring us greater comfort and health, but do not lead to a transformation of the mind, which is the only thing capable of providing lasting peace. Profound happiness, unlike fleeting pleasures, is spiritual in nature. It depends on the happiness of others and it is based on love and affection.”

“Brute force, no matter how strongly applied, can never subdue the basic human desire for freedom.”

Be sure to visit our Peace Offerings page for more inspiration for cultivating peace.