"Only love can create peace."
Scilla Elworthy's quote "Only love can create peace" underscores the fundamental role that empathy, understanding, and compassion play in fostering harmony among individuals and societies. Love, in this context, transcends romantic or familial feelings to encompass a deep sense of care and respect for all beings. By choosing love over fear, anger, or hatred, we can work towards understanding each other's perspectives, building bridges instead of walls, and ultimately creating an environment conducive to peace. This quote serves as a powerful reminder that love is not just a feeling, but a force that has the potential to transform conflicts and bring about lasting change.
"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear."
This quote emphasizes that courage is not about being fearless, but rather choosing to act despite one's fears because there exists a higher value or importance in the action taken. It suggests that fear is a natural human emotion, but it should not prevent us from pursuing what we believe is important or meaningful.
"Change happens when it becomes safer to be an ally than an opponent."
This quote emphasizes that social change occurs when individuals perceive more benefits, or a safer environment, in aligning themselves with the goals of progress, rather than remaining opposed to them. It suggests that fostering an atmosphere where cooperation and mutual gain are valued over conflict can expedite societal transformation, as people increasingly identify with and support the change. This understanding can help guide efforts towards positive social change by encouraging inclusivity, empathy, and collaboration among various groups.
"We don't need more leaders, we need more citizens who take responsibility."
This quote suggests that the focus should shift from looking for individuals to lead us, to empowering all members of a society to take personal responsibility for its well-being. It implies that everyone has a role to play in shaping the destiny of their community or nation, and it's not solely the responsibility of those in positions of authority. Essentially, Scilla Elworthy is advocating for active and engaged citizenship.
"The opposite of war isn't peace, it's creativity."
This quote suggests that instead of focusing solely on the absence of conflict (peace), we should prioritize the active cultivation of creativity to foster positive change. In other words, creativity is a powerful force for good that can counteract destructive actions such as war, by providing innovative solutions to problems and promoting constructive engagement between people. By nurturing our ability to think creatively, we can build bridges, promote understanding, and bring about enduring peace.
Nelson Mandela went to jail believing in violence, and 27 years later he and his colleagues had slowly and carefully honed the skills, the incredible skills, that they needed to turn one of the most vicious governments the world has known into a democracy. And they did it in a total devotion to non-violence.
- Scilla Elworthy
Wherever there is injustice, there is anger, and anger is like gasoline - if you spray it around and somebody lights a matchstick, you have an inferno. But anger inside an engine is powerful: it can drive us forward and can get us through dreadful moments and give us power. I learnt this with my discussions with nuclear policy makers.
- Scilla Elworthy
Like many traditional feminists, I became one of the boys, only better. For a while it gave me a buzz to win at their game, but ultimately, that kind of power just goes nowhere. Traditional feminism excludes men and so perpetuates conflict. I am not interested in warring about power.
- Scilla Elworthy
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