Seven Peace Pilgrim Quotes on Conflict

Peace Pilgrim was a remarkable woman who walked across America many times spreading a message of peace, beginning during the Korean War in 1953 and ending with her death in 1981. She vowed to keep walking until there was peace in the world, and she walked more than 25,000 miles before she stopped counting.

After her death, Peace Pilgrim’s friends compiled her writings and interviews into a book called Peace Pilgrim – Her Life and Work in Her Own Words. My copy of the book contains hundreds of underlined inspirational quotes, so I decided to pull some of them and curate them into lists that relate to our everyday lives.

This post contains seven Peace Pilgrim quotes on the subject of conflict.

Peace Pilgrim walked with a goal of worldwide peace, but she also recognized that people don’t always agree with each other. Whenever she found herself in a conflict with another person, she always asked herself what she might have done better. She was quick to apologize if she had failed in some way, however, she said she would accept criticism with head unbowed. She did not take her pacifism to a subservient level. Here are seven quotes from Peace Pilgrim that might help you in conflict situations:

1. There is a magic formula for resolving conflicts. It is this. Have as your objective the resolving of the conflict—not the gaining of the advantage . . . And this. Be concerned that you do not offend—not that you are not offended (183).
2. When you approach others in judgment they will be on the defensive. When you are able to approach them in a kindly, loving manner without judgment they will tend to judge themselves and be transformed (40).
3. Judging others will avail you nothing and injure you spiritually. Only if you can inspire others to judge themselves will anything worthwhile have been accomplished (93).
4. Before the tongue can speak, it must have lost the power to wound (38).
5. If you are motivated to do or say a mean thing, you can always think of a good thing (18).
6. If you will realize that the person who does an unkind thing is to some extent psychologically sick, anger will turn into compassion (152).
7. [If someone disagrees with your choices] Look, life is a series of choices and nobody can stop you from making your choices, but I have a right to make my own choices, too. And I have chosen freedom (4).

Peace Pilgrim’s friends believed that to charge money for a book would be at odds with her core values and decided to offer it for free. They receive enough money in donations to publish and fulfill every request. You can order copies and other materials for free directly from Friends of Peace Pilgrim.

More Peace Pilgrim Posts and Quotations by Subject

Seven Things to Know About Peace Pilgrim