If you’ve watched the news or been on any social media platform over the past week, chances are you’ve heard of the turmoil occurring all over the country. You may have also seen some inspirational quotes from times long past that are oddly à propos in light of these tragic events. When many of the quotes I’ve seen re-posted were first spoken or written decades or centuries ago, our country was upside down and on the verge of tearing itself apart. Once again, our country is strongly divided by these conflicts and others that have dominated the media and every newsfeed for weeks and months. These divisions I see now are uncomfortable reminders that history repeats itself and that, despite all our progress, we still have a long road ahead.
It is important that we remember how far we have come as a people and a nation and somehow find a way to come together and rise above these disagreements just as our ancestors did. As we move through these tumultuous times, here are some quotes from the past few hundred years that resonate very strongly with current events.
1. “Without a struggle, there can be no progress.” - Frederick Douglass
Throughout our history as a country and a people, we have overcome many instances of discord to move into more peaceful times. Struggles like these are ongoing and exist on the individual and national level. Life won’t always be a bucket of cupcakes and roses, it has its ups and downs. Right now, we’re struggling through some of those downs in order to keep moving forward to bigger and better things. That’s just part of the circle of life; things get worse before they get better.
2. “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” - Jimi Hendrix
One of my personal favorites. When we as a people overcome the need, the want to always be right and the need to defend that belief or opinion, recognizing that we must compromise and leave room for those of differing beliefs and/or opinions, then we may exist in a world where every controversy doesn’t turn into a national debate. We must be tolerant and open, just as our ancestors who fled to this country to be rid of persecution were.
3. “If someone thinks that peace and love are just a cliché that must have been left behind in the 60s, that’s a problem. Peace and love are eternal.” – John Lennon
Lennon’s words speak the truth from beyond his early grave. Peace and love were not fleeting ideas created by hippies that were meant to die as their culture faded. These ideas are indeed eternal, things the world will always need in order to exist in a somewhat orderly fashion. When we are hostile towards our neighbors and strangers on the street, we encourage those same feelings and create unnecessary tensions. Be kind, always, and show everyone you meet a little love.
4. “When you hate, the only person that suffers is you because most of the people you hate don't know it and the rest don't care.”- Medgar Evers
Every time I used to say I hate someone or something in front of my dad, he would say, “No, you don’t hate anybody or anything. Hate is a strong word.” That has stuck with me and always will, especially as I realize how strong hate can be and that what I felt didn’t match that. I wish it were true for more people, maybe we all resort to saying we hate something because it’s the first word that comes to mind. Harboring such a strong feeling in your soul isn’t healthy. You may find someone who has a mutual “hate” for the same person or group of people. But the truth is, everyone outside that group won’t care and neither will the people your hate is directed towards. It’s probably best to just make like Elsa and “let it go.”
5. “The life of a nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.” - Frederick Douglass
The values Douglass lists are things we as a country and a people are sorely lacking. We live in a world where we question everything we are told and never know for certain what we are fed through the media is the truth. We all hear a headline or some new statement from the government, leading to speculation by many and belief by those who don’t think for themselves. If we lack honesty, how can we be truthful and virtuous?
6. “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.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It’s the ultimate measure of woman and man alike, especially those we look to as our leaders. Actions speak louder than words, especially in times of discord. President Obama was wise to ask the nation to remain peaceful in his address after a week of gut-wrenching events. Violence is never the answer, a lesson you’d think we’d have all realized by now with so many innocent lives being taken from all sides. An eye for an eye is not the answer and you can’t fight fire with more fire for it only makes a larger, more destructive fire. Let us look to leaders from the Civil Rights Movement who went about peacefully protesting for equal rights rather than starting riots in the streets. Their persistence, patience, and strength of mind and spirit got them to their goal, not violence.
7. “The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speaking of the uselessness of violence… This one speaks for itself; the last part of this quote is one I have seen shared time and time again. While the last part is especially true, the first only adds to its power. I can only imagine what Dr. King would have to say today if hate hadn’t taken him from this world so soon. Violence from any side of an argument is not a means to an end.
8. “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” - Mahatma Gandhi
Violence in the hands of those filled with anger and hatred is a dangerous and contagious thing. As previously stated, violence is not, never will, nor has it ever been the answer to a conflict. It only makes things worse and indeed makes people blind to their true task.
9. “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.” - Mother Teresa
We’re all in this together, sharing the planet, coexisting in the same world with amazing and beautiful diversity. But we all do belong to each other in one way or another. The moment we drive partitions between us and allow them to separate us is the moment the controversies start and the moment we forget that we are one people and one world; a world or country without some semblance of unity is nothing.
10. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”- Mahatma Gandhi
Yep, sounds about right. Those who are weak can’t forgive because they are too blinded by their own pain, at first anyway. The inability to forgive and the harboring of hate only leads to trouble, likely some kind of lashing out. To move forward, you must forgive those who have caused harm or hurt you and learn to forgive; be the bigger person and see beyond your own feelings.
11. “The American people have this to learn: that where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob, and degrade them, neither person nor property is safe.” - Frederick Douglass
For a quote from over a hundred years ago, this resonates very strongly with what is going on in the world today. We’ve made a lot of progress in how we see different classes, races, religions, and sexualities. But, unfortunately, prejudices of all kind are still very present. Until we as a country and a people learn to truly accept everyone, despite our discrepancies, then we may begin to know peace.
