John Updike Quotes

War would end if the dead could return.

We do not celebrate the death of our enemies.

When we can lay down our fear and anger and choose responses other than aggression, we create the conditions for bringing out the best in us humans.

Never let anyone go home feeling bad at night. You can bark away during the day, but you must always put that right.

I think it is important that we rebuild an atmosphere of forgiveness and civility in every aspect of our lives.

War is not the answer, because only love can conquer hate.

Force may subdue, but love gains, and he that forgives first wins the laurel.

You have to see the human being in the enemy. If there is potential for change, there is still hope.

The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear.

On a level of simple personal survival, understanding and forgiveness are crucial... whether in an intimate personal relationship or on a global level.

I don't like anybody to be angry with me. I'd rather have friends.

There should be no strife with the vanquished or the dead.

All that violence in the world, we need to stop that.

Lord, Bless our enemies; have mercy upon them, may they turn their course and let us alone, and let us live in peace at our homes in our own native land.

We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it.

One can imagine nonviolent or minimally violent ways to reduce or eliminate hatred, but there's no mollifying evil.

Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

War is a beastly business, it is true, but one proof we are human is our ability to learn, even from it, how better to exist.

Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.

How do we stop ourselves from blowing each other up because we think that God wants us to blow each other up.

The most peaceful and responsible thing this body could do is listen to the complaints of people who have resorted to violent action.

This is the vow to those consumed by hatred. We have but one path—waging war on them to the death.

We need to stop treating our opponents as our enemies.

We are destined to live together, on the same soil in the same land. We, the soldiers who have returned from battle stained with blood, we who have seen our relatives and friends killed before our eyes, we who have attended their funerals and cannot look into the eyes of their parents, we who have come from a land where parents bury their children, we who have fought against you, the Palestinians We say to you today in a loud and clear voice: Enough of blood and tears. Enough. We have no desire for revenge. We harbor no hatred towards you. We, like you, are people who want to build a home, to plant a tree, to love, live side by side with you in dignity, in empathy, as human beings, as free men. We are today giving peace a chance and again saying to you in a clear voice: Enough.

In an era in which war and terrorism - at home and abroad - are often based on racial, religious and ethnic differences, rediscovering the wisdom of love and compassion may help us increase our survival at a time when an increasingly divided country and world so badly need it.