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Quotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Statements of Hazrat Inayat Khan Maybe many people will not think as I do, for instance those who believe strongly in pacifism, in the peace ideal. They will say, 'Is it not madness that anybody should make a war!' But everything one does, though it may look better or worse, yet belongs somewhere in the scheme of life, and we have no right to condemn it. The principal thing for every individual is to become conscious of the duty for which he is born. War comes from God in the same way that peace comes from God. The fact that at this time and at this stage of human civilization and evolution, when hardly one in a thousand individuals wants to make war, such dreadful wars should have taken place, is due to the influence of the planet working through the minds of those who live on it. Where does war come from? From chaotic action. When there is chaotic action, nations become involved in war; by chaotic action the whole world may be involved in war. Occupations such as war and preparation for war cannot be called civilized occupations. It is a pity that in this period of civilization man should have wars; and yet we think that we are more civilized than the people of ancient times! [Humankind] has made his life so artificial that [one] can never imagine how far [one] is removed from what may be called a normal, natural life for [one] to live. It is for this reason that we need the art of discovering peace within us. We shall not experience peace by improving outside conditions. [Humankind] has always longed for peace and [people have] always brought about wars; at the same time every individual says [s]he is seeking for peace. Then where does war come from? It comes because the meaning of peace has not been fully understood. [Humankind] lives in a continual turmoil, in a restless condition, and in order to seek for peace [one] seeks war; if this goes on we shall not have peace till every individual begins to seek peace within [oneself] first. In this present age it seems that the knowledge of warfare has developed; but on the other hand the knowledge of peace is absent; for the full knowledge of warfare is both the knowledge of battle and the knowledge of peace. This can be learned according to the mystics by battling with oneself, and by bringing about peace with one's own soul. The life of an individual being is not very different from the life of the world. An individual person's home is not different from the world. An individual's body and mind and spirit form the whole universe. An individual life can fill the gap between the dawn of creation and the last day. What the world needs today is not so much preaching or religious teaching; what the world needs most is the mystical outlook, to look upon the world with the mystic's attitude, and to see the whole of humanity as one, the single Being, the only Being. In order to bring this idea to the world it is not only necessary that there should be esoteric centers, but also that the message of universal [kinship] which is essential to mysticism should be given freely to all people, to those who sympathize as well as to those who are not yet ready to understand it. It is by bringing this idea to every soul one meets and can speak to that one will be able to accomplish the work which many institutions in the world today are trying to accomplish, calling themselves peace leagues and various other names. [A person] may have a good motive, but a good motive can only give good results with right methods. Whenever there is a good motive but not a right method, the good motive will be of no avail; on the contrary, the good motive can bring very bad results. And throughout world history whenever real [kinship] has been taught to humanity, it has always been conveyed by the mystical ideal. It is useless to discuss the peace of the world. What is necessary just now is to create peace in ourselves that we ourselves become examples of love, harmony and peace. That is the only way of saving ourselves and the world. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism. Martin Luther King, Jr. 4th April 1967, 'Beyond Vietnam' speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Naturally, the common people don't want war, but it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship...Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders...All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country. Hermann Goëring's testimony at the Nuremberg trials
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