The fight for world peace is not just the work of diplomats and politicians — it’s a collective effort that requires the hearts and minds of each and every one of us.
Across countless generations and conflicts, advocates and activists have worked to create a more peaceful world. Despite a number of devastating setbacks, peacemaking efforts have been successful in creating a more peaceful world, overall. Still, there is more work to be done... and we all have a responsibility to be a part of that work.
Peacemaking is an ongoing process that requires education, activism, courage, and continual dialogue.
Over time, inspiring peacemakers have imparted their wisdom through speeches, literature, and actions — urging humanity to choose the path of understanding and compassion over conflict.
We’ve curated a selection of quotes that center on the idea of world peace — to inspire, challenge, and encourage you to play your part in this vital mission.
Whether you’re already involved in peace-building efforts or in need of some perspective in light of heartbreaking current world events — may these quotes galvanize your own journey toward promoting world peace.
You might also like: Quotes About Humanity | Quotes About Activism | Quotes About Social Justice | Quotes About Peace
The Best Quotes About Creating Peace in the World
“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
“Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.”
— John F. Kennedy
“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
“Peace begins with a smile.”
— Mother Teresa
“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
— Edith Wharton
“Peace is the opposite of dreaming. It’s built slowly and surely through brutal compromises and tiny victories that you don’t even see. It’s a messy business, bringing peace into the world.”
— Bono
“Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.”
— Maria Montessori
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
— Desmond Tutu
“I still believe that peace and plenty and happiness can be worked out some way. I am a fool.”
— Kurt Vonnegut
“If you want to end the war, then instead of sending guns, send books. Instead of sending tanks, send pens. Instead of sending soldiers, send teachers.”
— Malala Yousafzai
“Is world peace ever going to be a reality? Sadly, likely not in our lifetimes. But that does not mean we should give in to despair. Mahatma Gandhi once said, ‘When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it — always.’”
— Jane Goodall
“Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will be as one.”
— John Lennon, Imagine
“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.”
— Amelia Earhart
“World peace must develop from inner peace. Peace is not just mere absence of violence. Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.”
— The Dalai Lama
“Not one of us can rest, be happy, be at home, be at peace with ourselves, until we end hatred and division.”
— John Lewis
“Peace is the only battle worth waging.”
— Albert Camus
“The more we sweat in peace, the less we bleed in war.”
— Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
“That’s all nonviolence is — organized love.”
— Joan Baez
“Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.”
— Albert Einstein
“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
“Peace is our gift to each other.”
— Elie Wiesel
“Until we have the courage to recognize cruelty for what it is — whether its victim is human or animal — we cannot expect things to be much better in this world… We cannot have peace among men whose hearts delight in killing any living creature.”
— Rachel Carson
“We can’t just hope for a brighter day, we have to work for a brighter day. Love too often gets buried in a world of hurt and fear. And we have to work to dig it out so we can share it with our family, our friends, and our neighbors.”
— Dolly Parton
“Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can suppress, a power than can transform the world.”
— Howard Zinn
“If you don’t know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he’s just like you. He has the same dreams, the same hopes and fears. It’s one world, pal. We’re all neighbors.”
— Frank Sinatra
“I think it’s naive to pray for world peace if we’re not going to change the form in which we live.”
— Godfrey Reggio
“I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.”
— Rosa Parks
“Peace cannot exist without justice, justice cannot exist without fairness, fairness cannot exist without development, development cannot exist without democracy, democracy cannot exist without respect for the identity and worth of cultures and peoples.”
— Rigoberta Menchu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate
“World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbor — it requires only that they live together with mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement.”
— John F. Kennedy
“Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contribute the best that they have and all that they are.”
— Hafsat Abiola
“We who in engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.”
— Martin Luther King Jr.
“Don’t wait for a better world. Start now to create a world of harmony and peace. It is up to you, and it always has been. You may even find the solution at the end of your fork.”
— Sharon Gannon
“Peace is not something you wish for, it is something you make, something you are, something you do and something you give away.”
— Robert Fulghum
