Exploring Pieces of Peace

As I start my journey to understand peace better, I wanted to see what others had to say about it. I'll look at what the Bible says in a future blog, but for today's blog, I went looking for general quotations. And guess what?

There are a gajillion quotes out there about peace. Many of them are about peace as the antithesis of war. What I wanted was quotes on peace within. So it took some digging, but this is some of what I found. 

Here are a few that challenged me:

“To be at one with God is to be at peace...peace is to be found only within, and unless one finds it there he will never find it at all. Peace lies not in the external world. It lies within one's own soul.” 
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"How can he abide long time in peace who occupies himself with other men's matters?"
Thomas a Kempis

"Where does your [peace] lie? Is God your refuge, your hiding place, your stronghold, your shepherd, your counselor, your friend, your redeemer, your savior, your guide? If He is, you don't need to search any further for [peace]."
Elisabeth Elliot 



And some that made me think:

"The foundation of the Christian's peace is everlasting; it is what no time, no change can destroy. It will remain when the body dies; it will remain when the mountains depart and the hills shall be removed, and when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll. The fountain of His comfort shall never be diminished, and the stream shall never be dried up. His comfort and joy is a living spring in the soul, a well of water springing up to everlasting life."
Jonathan Edwards

"God cannot give us...peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing."
C.S. Lewis

"Peace is the deliberate adjustment of my life to the will of God."
Unknown



A few that made me smile:

“My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.”  Dave Barry

"There may be those on earth who dress better or eat better, but those who enjoy the peace of God sleep better."

Anonymous

And this one, big surprise, was my favorite:

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. 
To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, 
where doing nothing was not boring--
it was peace.”

Milan Kundera 

How about you? What is your favorite quote about peace within?