Gilbert K. Chesterton Quotes

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

Love is a rare herb that makes a friend even of a sworn enemy and this herb grows out of nonviolence.

War would end if the dead could return.

We live in a world of guns, bombs and terror. To conquer hate seems a nigh-impossible task.

When I'm speaking of love, when I'm speaking of reversing hate, I'm speaking not only of reconciliation - even I don't use that word - I use another word in Spanish, that's called 'reencuentro' - it's not reconciliation.

Try to love someone who you want to hate, because they are just like you, somewhere inside, in a way you may never expect, in a way that resounds so deeply within you that you cannot believe it.

I thank God I don't have a problem with any person. Nobody wants to have a problem with another person. I don't want it either.

My freedom from hatred - I would even claim for myself individually, my love - for those who consider themselves to be my enemies, does not make me blind to their faults.

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

It is no non-violence if we merely love those that love us. It is non-violence only when we love those that hate us.

We do not celebrate the death of our enemies.

Central to living a life that is good is a life that's forgiving. We're creatures of contact, regardless of whether we kiss or we wound.

Forgiveness is that subtle thread that binds both love and friendship. Without forgiveness, you may not even have a child one day.

I'm trying to get the terrorist out of the bugaboo category and into the category of a fellow human being.

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

Until we have created a romance of peace that would equal that of war, violence will not disappear from people's lives.

No matter what message you are about to deliver somewhere, whether it is holding out a hand of friendship, or making clear that you disapprove of something, is the fact that the person sitting across the table is a human being, so the goal is to always establish common ground.

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.

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.

I have always believed that life is too short for rows and disagreements. Even if I think I'm right, I would prefer to apologize and remain friends rather than win and be an enemy.

Some of my best friends here in New York have pasts I have a hard time reconciling with the people I'm close to now. But I wouldn't change them - or their pasts - for anything in the world. Their experiences are what made them the people they are today.

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.

If you're an enemy, I would love for you to be a fan, because I don't like enemies.

Sometimes you see how humanity can rise above any kind of cultural ills and hate that a person's capacity to love and communicate and forgive can be bigger than anything else.