“There is much coldness among men because we do not dare to be as cordial as we really are.”
“I do not believe that we can put into anyone ideas which are not in him already. As a rule there are in everyone all sorts of good ideas, ready like tinder. But much of this tinder catches fire, or catches it successfully, only when it meets some flame or spark from outside, i.e., from some other person.”
“Very little of the great cruelty shown by men can really be attributed to cruel instinct. Most of it comes from thoughtlessness or inherited habit. Extract from 'Memories of childhood and youth.'”
“All people are endowed with the faculty of compassion, and for this reason can develop the humanitarian spirit.”
“If there is anything I have learned about men and women, it is that there is a deeper spirit of altruism than is ever evident. Just as the rivers we see are minor compared to the underground streams, so, too, the idealism that is visible is minor compared to what people carry in their hearts unreleased or scarcely released.”
“Only when an ideal of peace is born in the minds of the peoples will the institutions set up to maintain this peace effectively fulfill the function expected of them.”
“Man is a clever animal who behaves like an imbecile.”
"All these primary impulses, not easily described in words, are the springs of man's actions."
"Human beings must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it."
