250 Peace Quotes: Best Lines on Inner Peace & Harmony

The human longing for peace is as old as civilization itself. The quotes below are organized into five themes — inner peace, world peace, love and compassion, hard times, and timeless wisdom — so you can find exactly the line you need.

A note on sources: a small number of widely-circulating lines have no confirmable primary source. Those are clearly marked as attributed rather than presented as definite quotations.

Peace Quotes on Inner Peace

Lasting peace starts inside. These peace quotes on inner peace — from the Buddha, Marcus Aurelius, the Dalai Lama and modern teachers — are about calming the mind and making peace with yourself.

1. Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. — Buddha
2. Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. — Buddha
3. Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. — Buddha
4. Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace. — Buddha
5. You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished by your anger. — Buddha
6. Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule. — Buddha
7. The mind is everything. What you think you become. — Buddha
8. There is no path to happiness: happiness is the path. — Buddha
9. It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. — Buddha
10. The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts. — Marcus Aurelius
11. He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe. — Marcus Aurelius
12. The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts. — Marcus Aurelius
13. Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. — Marcus Aurelius
14. You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength. — Marcus Aurelius
15. Our life is what our thoughts make it. — Marcus Aurelius
16. Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
17. For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
18. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
19. Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. — Saint Francis de Sales
20. Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace. — Dalai Lama
21. Calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health. — Dalai Lama
22. Choose to be optimistic, it feels better. — Dalai Lama
23. Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. — Dalai Lama
24. If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito. — Dalai Lama
25. Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be. — Wayne Dyer
26. You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside. — Wayne Dyer
27. If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. — Wayne Dyer
28. Conflict cannot survive without your participation. — Wayne Dyer
29. Learn to be calm and you will always be happy. — Paramahansa Yogananda
30. Stillness is the altar of spirit. — Paramahansa Yogananda
31. Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions. — Pema Chödrön
32. You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather. — Pema Chödrön
33. In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you. — Deepak Chopra
34. You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level. — Eckhart Tolle
35. The past has no power over the present moment. — Eckhart Tolle
36. Wherever you are, be there totally. — Eckhart Tolle
37. Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. — Lao Tzu
38. To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. — Lao Tzu
39. Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you. — Lao Tzu
40. He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough. — Lao Tzu
41. Smile, breathe, and go slowly. — Thich Nhat Hanh
42. Breathing in, I calm body and mind. Breathing out, I smile. — Thich Nhat Hanh
43. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with peace, joy and serenity. — Thich Nhat Hanh
44. Peace in ourselves, peace in the world. — Thich Nhat Hanh
45. It is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. — Epictetus
46. No man is free who is not master of himself. — Epictetus
47. There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. — Epictetus
48. We suffer more often in imagination than in reality. — Seneca
49. True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future. — Seneca
50. The greatest remedy for anger is delay. — Seneca

Peace Quotes on World Peace

From Gandhi’s nonviolence to Lennon’s anthems, these peace quotes dream of a world without war. They come from leaders, activists and artists who devoted their lives to the cause of peace.

1. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. — Martin Luther King Jr.
2. True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice. — Martin Luther King Jr.
3. Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal. — Martin Luther King Jr.
4. Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war. — Martin Luther King Jr.
5. We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. — Martin Luther King Jr.
6. I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. — Martin Luther King Jr.
7. Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. — Martin Luther King Jr.
8. It is my conviction that nothing enduring can be built on violence. — Mahatma Gandhi
9. I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent. — Mahatma Gandhi
10. Nonviolence is the first article of my faith. — Mahatma Gandhi
11. If we are to reach real peace in this world, we shall have to begin with the children. — Mahatma Gandhi
12. When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. — Mahatma Gandhi
13. Peace is its own reward. — Mahatma Gandhi
14. In a gentle way, you can shake the world. — Mahatma Gandhi
15. An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind. — Attributed to Mahatma Gandhi
16. There is no way to peace; peace is the way. — A.J. Muste
17. It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it. — Eleanor Roosevelt
18. It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. — Eleanor Roosevelt
19. Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding. — Albert Einstein
20. I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. — Albert Einstein
21. Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. — Albert Einstein
22. Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. — John Lennon
23. All we are saying is give peace a chance. — John Lennon
24. War is over, if you want it. — John Lennon and Yoko Ono
25. Peace begins with a smile. — Mother Teresa
26. If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. — Mother Teresa
27. What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family. — Mother Teresa
28. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. — Nelson Mandela
29. Courageous people do not fear forgiving, for the sake of peace. — Nelson Mandela
30. Mankind must put an end to war before war puts an end to mankind. — John F. Kennedy
31. Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. — John F. Kennedy
32. It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace. — Aristotle
33. We make war that we may live in peace. — Aristotle
34. War does not determine who is right — only who is left. — Bertrand Russell
35. You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist. — Indira Gandhi
36. There never was a good war or a bad peace. — Benjamin Franklin
37. Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends? — Abraham Lincoln
38. With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in. — Abraham Lincoln
39. Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none. — Thomas Jefferson
40. I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace. — Thomas Paine
41. Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. — Ronald Reagan
42. If you want peace, work for justice. — Pope Paul VI
43. When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. — Jimi Hendrix
44. Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. — Attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi
45. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. — Jesus Christ
46. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. — Jesus Christ
47. Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. — Sy Miller and Jill Jackson
48. World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion. — Dalai Lama
49. We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves. — Dalai Lama
50. If you want peace, prepare for war. — Latin Proverb

Peace Quotes on Love and Compassion

Peace and love grow from the same root. These peace quotes on love and compassion — from Mother Teresa, Rumi and the Dalai Lama — show how kindness heals hearts and communities.

1. Where there is love there is life. — Mahatma Gandhi
2. Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive. — Dalai Lama
3. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. — Dalai Lama
4. My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness. — Dalai Lama
5. Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. — Dalai Lama
6. The purpose of our lives is to be happy. — Dalai Lama
7. All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness. — Dalai Lama
8. When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace. — Dalai Lama
9. Love is the absence of judgment. — Dalai Lama
10. Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier. — Mother Teresa
11. Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. — Mother Teresa
12. Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love. — Mother Teresa
13. Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. — Mother Teresa
14. I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples. — Mother Teresa
15. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin. — Mother Teresa
16. Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in that action. — Mother Teresa
17. If you judge people, you have no time to love them. — Mother Teresa
18. Intense love does not measure, it just gives. — Mother Teresa
19. A life not lived for others is not a life. — Mother Teresa
20. Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there. — Rumi
21. The wound is the place where the Light enters you. — Rumi
22. Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself. — Rumi
23. Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder. — Rumi
24. Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place. — Rumi
25. You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop. — Rumi
26. What you seek is seeking you. — Rumi
27. Don’t grieve. Anything you lose comes round in another form. — Rumi
28. The quieter you become, the more you can hear. — Rumi
29. Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. — Rumi
30. 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. — Martin Luther King Jr.
31. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. — Martin Luther King Jr.
32. Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. — Lao Tzu
33. Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. — Lao Tzu
34. The best thing to hold onto in life is each other. — Audrey Hepburn
35. Where there is great love, there are always miracles. — Willa Cather
36. Love is friendship that has caught fire. — Ann Landers
37. To love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides. — David Viscott
38. The giving of love is an education in itself. — Eleanor Roosevelt
39. A loving heart is the truest wisdom. — Charles Dickens
40. Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts. — Charles Dickens
41. Love cures people — both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. — Karl Menninger
42. The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart. — Helen Keller
43. What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us. — Helen Keller
44. Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. — Helen Keller
45. All you need is love. — John Lennon
46. And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make. — Paul McCartney
47. Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies. — Aristotle
48. To love is to recognize yourself in another. — Eckhart Tolle
49. The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. — Eden Ahbez
50. Real love is not based on romance, candle light dinner and walks along the beach. In fact, it is based on respect, compromise, care and trust. — Unknown

Peace Quotes for Hard Times

Peace is hardest to hold when life is hardest. These peace quotes for hard times offer steady words from people who kept their calm through war, prison, loss and adversity.

1. In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity. — Sun Tzu
2. The greatest victory is that which requires no battle. — Sun Tzu
3. Supreme excellence consists of breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting. — Sun Tzu
4. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. — Sun Tzu
5. It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. — Aristotle Onassis
6. Out of difficulties grow miracles. — Jean de La Bruyère
7. When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. — Henry Ford
8. Tough times never last, but tough people do. — Robert H. Schuller
9. The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. — Chinese Proverb
10. Fall seven times and stand up eight. — Japanese Proverb
11. The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists. — Japanese Proverb
12. Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. — African Proverb
13. When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you. — African Proverb
14. However long the night, the dawn will break. — African Proverb
15. This too shall pass. — Persian Proverb
16. The darkest hour is just before the dawn. — Thomas Fuller
17. All things are difficult before they are easy. — Thomas Fuller
18. Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one. — Bruce Lee
19. Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. — Bruce Lee
20. Be water, my friend. — Bruce Lee
21. The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus. — Bruce Lee
22. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water. — Bruce Lee
23. I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work. — Thomas Edison
24. Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. — Thomas Edison
25. Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. — Thomas Edison
26. The best way out is always through. — Robert Frost
27. In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on. — Robert Frost
28. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. — Joseph P. Kennedy
29. Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength. — Corrie ten Boom
30. Worry is a down payment on a problem you may never have. — Joyce Meyer
31. Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today. — Will Rogers
32. It always seems impossible until it’s done. — Nelson Mandela
33. Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies. — Nelson Mandela
34. I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. — Nelson Mandela
35. For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. — Nelson Mandela
36. We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. — Martin Luther King Jr.
37. Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. — Martin Luther King Jr.
38. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. — Martin Luther King Jr.
39. If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward. — Martin Luther King Jr.
40. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. — Martin Luther King Jr.
41. We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. — Albert Einstein
42. Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. — Albert Einstein
43. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. — Albert Einstein
44. A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for. — John A. Shedd
45. You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. — Mahatma Gandhi
46. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. — Mahatma Gandhi
47. Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding. — Mahatma Gandhi
48. Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. — Mahatma Gandhi
49. Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. — Mahatma Gandhi
50. Nobody can hurt me without my permission. — Mahatma Gandhi

Peace Quotes: Wisdom Through the Ages

Philosophers have reflected on peace for thousands of years. These peace quotes gather timeless wisdom from Aristotle, Confucius, Seneca and others on living a peaceful life.

1. Peace is liberty in tranquility. — Marcus Tullius Cicero
2. He who has overcome his fears will truly be free. — Aristotle
3. Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. — Aristotle
4. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. — Aristotle
5. What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. — Aristotle
6. Hope is a waking dream. — Aristotle
7. The more you know, the more you know you don’t know. — Aristotle
8. It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. — Aristotle
9. Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. — Aristotle
10. In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. — Aristotle
11. The energy of the mind is the essence of life. — Aristotle
12. The unexamined life is not worth living. — Socrates
13. The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing. — Socrates
14. Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people. — Socrates
15. Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something. — Plato
16. The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself. — Plato
17. Courage is knowing what not to fear. — Plato
18. We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. — Plato
19. The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men. — Plato
20. Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. — Plato
21. Necessity is the mother of invention. — Plato
22. Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. — Attributed to Plato
23. First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. — Epictetus
24. If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid. — Epictetus
25. Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems. — Epictetus
26. We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. — Epictetus
27. Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. — Epicurus
28. Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance. — Epicurus
29. Of all the things which wisdom provides to make us entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship. — Epicurus
30. Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little. — Epicurus
31. The art of living well and the art of dying well are one. — Epicurus
32. It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a great deal of it. — Seneca
33. If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable. — Seneca
34. No man was ever wise by chance. — Seneca
35. While we wait for life, life passes. — Seneca
36. As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters. — Seneca
37. Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. — Seneca
38. It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness. — Seneca
39. He who conquers himself is the mightiest warrior. — Confucius
40. It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. — Confucius
41. Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. — Confucius
42. The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones. — Confucius
43. Wherever you go, go with all your heart. — Confucius
44. Silence is a true friend who never betrays. — Confucius
45. Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. — Lao Tzu
46. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. — Lao Tzu
47. The softest things in the world overcome the hardest things in the world. — Lao Tzu
48. Water is fluid, soft, and yielding. But water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. — Lao Tzu
49. I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. — Lao Tzu
50. Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you. — Jean-Paul Sartre

FAQs About Peace Quotes

What is the most famous peace quote?

Among the most quoted lines are “Peace begins with a smile.” — Mother Teresa, “There is no way to peace; peace is the way.” — A.J. Muste, and “Imagine all the people living life in peace.” — John Lennon. All three are included in the collection above.

What is a good short quote about inner peace?

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” — Buddha is one of the shortest and most shared lines on inner peace, and it opens the Inner Peace section above.

Did Gandhi really say “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind”?

There is no primary source confirming Gandhi said it, though the line circulates widely in his name. In this collection it is marked as attributed rather than presented as a definite Gandhi quotation.

Which peace quotes are about love?

The “Peace Quotes on Love and Compassion” section gathers 50 lines on love, kindness and compassion from the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Rumi, Martin Luther King Jr. and others.

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