Margaret J. Wheatley Quotes

I don't feel bitterness, I don't feel anger towards anybody. Fighting is never emotional to me.

Non-violence is a permanent attitude we bring to the breakfast table and bring to bed at night.

Caregiving requires the intention of love, caretaking requires the intention of fear. Not acting in anger when you are angry requires the intention of love.

The best way to win against the intolerable is to tolerate them, for this they have seldom dealt with. Your indulgence may soften their malice and open their eyes to more honorable ways.

Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.

If I could give one piece of advice, it would be 'If you're angry with a family member, talk to God about it, not the other members of your family.'

About love, don't be a silent partner. And be gentle with your anger.

War would end if the dead could return.

I'm not someone who feels anger on particular issues.

As much as it hurts, I would rather miss someone than hit someone.

We do not celebrate the death of our enemies.

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

We have to be active about kindness and about peace. I've always fantasized that it would be great if there was a Department of Peace.

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

I'm doing my best to be mindful about how I'm living: to be kind and patient, and not to impose a bad mood on somebody else. Being mindful is as good a way to be spiritual as anything else.

In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.

I choose not to give energy to the emotions of revenge, hatred or the desire to subjugate.

As we look around, it's very clear that in this world people do outrageous things to one another all of the time. It's not that these qualities or actions make us bad people, but they bring tremendous suffering if we don't know how to work with them.

I wouldn't be honest if I told you that in some moment of my life I had a lot of rage - probably hate - I'm not sure of hate, but rage. But you know what happens is that then you realize you cannot do to others what you think nobody has to do to anybody. Life is important for me and not any kind of life, quality too of life.

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.

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 want to be a voice for peace in the world, begin by making peace a permanent condition of your own life.

If a man can beat you, walk him.

Tolerance, compromise, understanding, acceptance, patience - I want those all to be very sharp tools in my shed.

Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.