Dag Hammarskjold Quotes

Our work for peace must begin within the private world of each one of us.

We look upon this shaken earth, and we declare our firm and fixed purpose - the building of a peace with justice in a world where moral law prevails.

I think it's naive to pray for world peace if we're not going to change the form in which we live.

In whosever presence you find peace of mind, devoid of fear, only that person can be your guru.

You get World Peace through Inner Peace. If you've got a world full of people who have Inner Peace, then you have a Peaceful World.

All of us can work for peace. We can work right where we are, right within ourselves, because the more peace we have within our own lives, the more we can reflect into the outer situation.

There are enormous opportunities to work for a world that is more free, peaceful and just.

Whoever now makes himself bigger, freer and more human in his own existence, is doing his part toward peace, — as yet it must be worked at in an inward direction, not until a few have it all big and ready within them can it let itself be brought into the world.

We must establish a new world order based on justice, on equity, and on peace.

It's too easy only to blame the militarists, racists, sexists and other pushers of violence for the mess we're in. What is harder is self-examination, moving beyond caring by looking inward to ask the personal question: What more should I be doing everyday to bring about a peace and justice based world, whether across the ocean or across the living room?

Peace is the fruit of love, a love that is also justice. But to grow in love requires work -- hard work. And it can bring pain because it implies loss -- loss of the certitudes, comforts, and hurts that shelter and define us.

Peace is a daily commitment. It is a homemade peace.

It's important to remember, when we're out there aggressively working for reform, that, even if our particular issue doesn't get resolved, we are adding peace to the world. We have to do our best and at the same time give up all hope of fruition.

One simple change - seeking and finding peace within - could, if it were undertaken by everyone, end all wars, eliminate conflict and prevent injustice. World peace is a personal thing. What is needed is not a change of circumstance, but a change of consciousness.

Militarists say that to gain peace we must prepare for war. I think we get what we prepare for. If we want a world where peace is valued, we must teach ourselves to believe that peace is not a ‘utopian vision’ but a real responsibility that must be worked for each and every day in small and large ways. Any one of us can contribute to building a world where peace and justice prevail.

If we want justice for minorities and cooled wars with our natural enemies, whether human or non-human, we must first come to terms with the minority and the enemy in ourselves and in our own hearts, for the rascal is there as much as anywhere in the "external" world - -especially when you realize that the world outside your skin is as much yourself as the world inside.

What I really want to write about is injustice and justice, and the different ways human beings organize the two.

One challenge of our adventure on earth is to rise above dead systems...wars, nations, destructions...to refuse to be a part of them, and express the highest selves we know how to be.

Although attempting to bring about world peace through the internal transformation of individuals is difficult, it is the only way.

More than life, I value vindication. When you are at peace with the truth and you know that you are on the side of the right and God is on your side, you are not afraid of anything, including jail.

What does peace do? Peace blossoms. What else? Peace spreads. What else? Peace illumines. What else? Peace fulfils.

It is my earnest hope - indeed the hope of all mankind - that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past, a world found upon faith and understanding, a world dedicated to the dignity of man and the fulfillment of his most cherished wish for freedom, tolerance and justice.

Before the thunderous clamor of political debate or war set loose in the world, love insisted on its promise for the possibility of human unity: between men and women, between blacks and whites, northerners and southerners, haves and have-have-nots, self and self.

I'm still convinced. We all fight for freedom, but the foundation of freedom is equality and justice. And we are all on the road.

A man who fears nothing is a man who loves nothing; and if you love nothing, what joy is there in your life?