To live fully, outwardly and inwardly, not to ignore the external reality for the sake of the inner life, or the reverse, that's quite a task
Etty HillesumRead
The more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Inner peace contributes to global peace.
This quote by Etty Hillesum emphasizes the importance of cultivating inner tranquility as a means to impact the broader world positively. It suggests that individual peace can lead to collective peace, indicating that our personal state of mind plays a crucial role in addressing the troubled state of the world around us.
Themes
PeaceInner PeaceWorld PeaceTranquilitySerenity
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community service, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of cultivating peace within oneself to bring about change.
More from Etty Hillesum
All quotes βThinking gets you nowhere. It may be a fine and noble aid in academic studies, but you can't think your way out of emotional difficulties. That takes something altogether different. You have to make yourself passive then, and just listen. Re-establish contact with a slice of eternity.
Etty HillesumRead
We have to fight them daily, lake fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies.
Etty HillesumRead
Each of us must turn inward and destroy in himself all that he thinks he ought to destroy in others.
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I think what weakens people most is fear of wasting their strength.
Etty HillesumRead
I really see no other solution than to turn inwards and to root out all the rottenness there. I no longer believe that we can change anything in the world until we first change ourselves. And that seems to me the only lesson to be learned.
Etty HillesumRead
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