No one is born hating others.
Ultimately, the only way to make good friends is to become a good friend yourself. Good people gather around other good people.
Japan learned from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that the tragedy wrought by nuclear weapons must never be repeated and that humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist.
Women are, in my view, natural peacemakers. As givers and nurturers of life, through their focus on human relationships and their engagement with the demanding work of raising children and protecting family life, they develop a deep sense of empathy that cuts through to underlying human realities.
Having lived through the transition from totalitarianism, I am acutely mindful of the need to never take for granted the basic freedoms of thought, expression and belief that democracy brings.
Those who always have a sense of appreciation and gratitude never reach an impasse in life.
There is no true joy in a life lived closed up in the little shell of the self. When you take one step to reach out to people, when you meet with others and share their thoughts and sufferings, infinite compassion and wisdom well up within your heart. Your life is transformed.
The differences between people need not act as barriers that wound, harm and drive us apart. Rather, these very differences among cultures and civilizations should be valued as manifestations of the richness of our shared creativity.
Embrace your dreams and advance as far as they can take you.
Effort and hard work construct the bridge that connects your dreams to reality.
Anyone who has ever made a resolution discovers that the strength of their determination fades with time. The important thing is not that your resolve never wavers, but that you don’t get down on yourself when it does and throw in the towel.
I believe that a culture of peace must be the essential foundation of our efforts for peace.
Great art is created only through diligent and painstaking effort to perfect and polish oneself.
The moment you resolve to be victorious, every nerve and fiber in your being will immediately orient itself toward your success.
A person fully awakened to the jewel-like dignity of their own life is capable of truly respecting that same treasure in others.
Whatever your circumstances, whatever your past, the forces that determine your future are nowhere but within your own heart and mind. It is here that the star of your destiny shines.
Just as cherry, plum, peach and damson blossoms all possess their own unique qualities, each person is unique. We cannot become someone else. The important thing is that we live true to ourselves and cause the great flower of our lives to blossom.
Dig beneath your feet, there you will find a spring. The place where you are now is crucial. Never try to avoid that which you must do.
Just as a diamond can only be polished by another diamond, it is only through genuine, all-out engagement with others that people can polish their character, and help each other to reach greater heights.
One’s true worth as a human being is not a matter of outward appearance or title, but derives rather from the breadth of one’s spirit. Everything comes down to faith and conviction. It is what is in one’s heart, and the substance of one’s actions that count.