We have thought of peace as the passive and war as the active way of living. The opposite is true. War is not the most strenuous life. It is a kind of rest-cure compared to the task of reconciling our differences.
Interpretation
Peace requires active effort and engagement, while war is a destructive escape from conflict.
Mary Parker Follett highlights a profound understanding of the nature of peace and war. She suggests that society often views peace as too passive and war as an assertive and active state, but in reality, it takes much more strength and energy to engage in constructive dialogue and reconciliation than it does to engage in warfare. Thus, the real challenge lies in navigating differences and fostering peace, which is a labor-intensive process that demands resilience and commitment.
In practice
This quote could be used in a peace-building workshop to emphasize the need for active engagement in resolving conflicts.
There are three ways of dealing with difference: domination, compromise, and integration. By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish.
Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim.
Leadership is not defined by the exercise of power but by the capacity to increase the sense of power among those led. The most essential work of the leader is to create more leaders.
It is possible to conceive conflict as not necessarily a wasteful outbreak of incompatibilities, but a normal process by which socially valuable differences register themselves for the enrichment of all concerned.
Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. We attain unity only through variety. Differences must be integrated, not annihilated, not absorbed.
The perplexity of life arises from there being too many interesting things in it for us to be interested properly in any of them.
I got to thinking about the Book of Revelation that was written by a Jewish prophet who was also a follower of Jesus who hated the Roman Empire. I realized that the Book of Revelation could be a way to reflect on the issue of religion's relationship to politics.
Thy wish was father, Harry, to that thought.
Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities.
Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom.
When Sunday loses its fundamental meaning and becomes subordinate to a secular concept of weekend dominated by such things as entertainment and sport, people stay locked within a horizon so narrow that they can no longer see the heavens.
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