Peace has to be created, in order to be maintained. It is the product of Faith, Strength, Energy, Will, Sympathy, Justice, Imagination, and the triumph of principle. It will never be achieved by passivity and quietism.
Interpretation
Peace must be actively pursued and nurtured through strong values and actions.
This quote emphasizes that peace is not a passive state that can be obtained without effort; it requires active engagement and the cultivation of various virtues such as faith, strength, and justice. Dorothy Thompson suggests that achieving a lasting peace relies on a proactive approach, involving imagination and steadfast principles, rather than simply waiting for peace to occur or accepting the status quo.
In practice
In a speech on international relations, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of active diplomacy.
Courage, it would seem, is nothing less than the power to overcome danger, misfortune, fear, injustice, while continuing to affirm inwardly that life with all its sorrows is good; that everything is meaningful even if in a sense beyond our understanding; and that there is always tomorrow.
When liberty is taken away by force it can be restored by force. When it is relinquished voluntarily by default it can never be recovered.
It is not the fact of liberty but the way in which liberty is exercised that ultimately determines whether liberty itself survives.
Age is not measured by years. Nature does not equally distribute energy. Some people are born old and tired while others are going strong at seventy.
Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live.
If you want to bring an end to long-standing conflict, you have to be prepared to compromise.
If nations could overcome the mutual fear and distrust whose sombre shadow is now thrown over the world, and could meet with confidence and good will to settle their possible differences, they would easily be able to establish a lasting peace.
The ongoing conflict between us has caused heavy suffering to both peoples. The future can and must be different. Both our peoples are destined to live together side by side, on this small piece of land. This reality we cannot change.
Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.
In my view of the present aspect of affairs, there is no need of bloodshed and war. There is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such a course, and I may say in advance, there will be no blood shed unless it be forced upon the government. The government will not use force unless force is used against it.
The pacifist's task today is to find a method of helping and healing which provides a revolutionary constructive substitute for war.
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