Nonviolence
From a healed, peaceful heart, humility is born; from humility, a willingness to listen to others is born; from a willingness to listen to others, mutual understanding is born; and from mutual understanding, a peaceful society will be born. Nonviolence is the highest form of humility; it is supreme courage.
[The World Is Yours to Change]
No matter how just the cause or in whose name it is wielded, the use of force inscribes bitterness in the hearts of the next generation and risks entrenching and perpetuating conflict.
[Essay, “Moving beyond the use of military force,” in Embracing the Future]
“Nonviolence” does not merely mean to refrain from violence. Violence erupts when one person blames another for a problem or conflict. Conversely, nonviolence is a way of life in which one acknowledges, “Let me be the one to change first.” If this spirit were to be embraced, how much more at peace would our families and society itself be?
[Ikeda Daisaku Zenshu (The Complete Works of Daisaku Ikeda), Vol. 125]
“Thank you” is the essence of nonviolence. It contains respect for the other person, humility and a profound affirmation of life.
[The Wisdom for Creating Happiness and Peace, Part 2, Chapter 13.2]
The real struggle of the twenty-first century will not be between civilizations, nor between religions. It will be between violence and nonviolence. It will be between barbarity and civilization in the truest sense of the word.
[The World Is Yours to Change]
To end the human institution of war, to relegate it to history with such barbarous practices as slavery―at one time also considered a natural, inevitable, “part of human nature”―we must establish respect for the inviolable dignity of human life as the core value of our age.
[Essay, “The Power of Empathy,” in Embracing the Future]
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