Unattainable Goal of Peace
by Aung San Suu Kyi
[Listen to Audio!]
 [Nobel Lecture, June 16, 2012]
The peace of our world is indivisible. As long as negative forces are getting the better of positive forces anywhere, we are all at risk. It may be questioned whether all negative forces could ever be removed. The simple answer is: ‘No!’ It is in human nature to contain both the positive and the negative. However, it is also within human capability to work to reinforce the positive and to minimize or neutralize the negative. Absolute peace in our world is an unattainable goal. But it is one towards which we must continue to journey, our eyes fixed on it as a traveler in a desert fixes his eyes on the one guiding star that will lead him to salvation. Even if we do not achieve perfect peace on earth, because perfect peace is not of this earth, common endeavors to gain peace will unite individuals and nations in trust and friendship and help to make our human community safer and kinder.
I used the word ‘kinder’ after careful deliberation; I might say the careful deliberation of many years. Of the sweets of adversity, and let me say that these are not numerous, I have found the sweetest, the most precious of all, is the lesson I learned on the value of kindness. Every kindness I received, small or big, convinced me that there could never be enough of it in our world. To be kind is to respond with sensitivity and human warmth to the hopes and needs of others. Even the briefest touch of kindness can lighten a heavy heart. Kindness can change the lives of people. […]
Ultimately our aim should be to create a world free from the displaced, the homeless and the hopeless, a world of which each and every corner is a true sanctuary where the inhabitants will have the freedom and the capacity to live in peace. Every thought, every word, and every action that adds to the positive and the wholesome is a contribution to peace. Each and every one of us is capable of making such a contribution. Let us join hands to try to create a peaceful world where we can sleep in security and wake in happiness.
–Aung San Suu Kyi, on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012
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Unattainable Goal of Peace
Can you share a personal story where your endeavor to gain peace united you with others in bonds of friendship and trust? What does being kinder mean to you? How do you sustain your journey toward absolute peace despite setbacks? |
| Chris W, wrote: In my life experience, I have found deep peace after surrendering my fears. I remember sitting in my mother-inlaw’s funeral service and feeling peace cover me like a blanket. The relie… |
| david doane wrote: I think of Gandhi’s famous statements that there is not a way to peace — peace is the way; and nonviolence requires more courage than violence; and peace must first be found within; and tha… |
| Conrad P Pritscher wrote: Beautiful statement. Being kinder means everything to me. There is nothing more important than being kind. Accepting my not being kinder more frequently is being kinder to myself. &nb… |
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