This is peace, this is the excellent, namely the calm of all the impulses, the casting out of all basis, the extinction of craving, dispassion, stopping, Nirvana. ~ Anguttara Nikaya

Inner peace refers to a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress. Being "at peace" with oneself and the cosmos is considered by many to be healthy (homeostasis) and the opposite of being stressed or anxious.

Quotes

An atmosphere of peace must first be created within ourselves, then gradually expanded to include our families, our communities, and ultimately the whole planet. ~ Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

• This is peace, this is the excellent, namely the calm of all the impulses, the casting out of all "basis", the extinction of craving, dispassion, stopping, Nirvana.
  • Anguttara Nikaya, v.322, as quoted in World Scripture : A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts (1991) edited by Andrew Wilson, p. 392.

• As rivers flow into the ocean but cannot make the vast ocean overflow, so flow the streams of the sense-world into the sea of peace that is the sage.
  • Bhagavad Gita 2.70.

• May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.
  • The Bible, Numbers 6:26.

• In the morning, hear the Way; in the evening, die content!
  • Confucius in The Analects 4.8.

• Peace is peaceful.
  • "The Dude" in The Big Lebowski.

• Know thyself.
  • Anonymous aphorism inscribed in the forecourt of Temple of Apollo at Delphi, where the Pythia prophesied; often misattributed to Socrates, who quoted it.

• If a man sings of God and hears of Him,
  And lets love of God sprout within him,
  All his sorrows shall vanish,
  And in his mind, God will bestow abiding peace.
  • Guru Granth Sahib, Japuji 5, M.1, p. 2.

• The question of real, lasting world peace concerns human beings, so basic human feelings are also at its roots. Through inner peace, genuine world peace can be achieved. In this the importance of individual responsibility is quite clear; an atmosphere of peace must first be created within ourselves, then gradually expanded to include our families, our communities, and ultimately the whole planet.
  • Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, as quoted in Inner Peace, World Peace : Essays on Buddhism and Nonviolence (1992) by Kenneth Kraft, p. 2.

• Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
  • Jesus Christ, as quoted in John 14:27 (KJV)
  • Variant translation: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
    • (NIV).

• The course of human history is determined, not by what happens in the skies, but by what takes place in our hearts.
  • Sir Arthur Keith, (sometimes wrongfully cited as Sir Arthur Kent), as quoted in Living Philosophies (1931), published by Simon and Schuster, Ch. X, p. 147.

• In the remembrance of God do hearts find satisfaction.
  • Qur'an 13:28.

• We talk about world peace. Peace needs to be in the heart of every human being because that is where it belongs.
  • Maharaji (Prem Rawat), address in Wembley Stadium, England, (22 June 1997).

• Before we can make friends with anyone else, we must first make friends with ourselves.
  • Eleanor Roosevelt, as quoted in The Life You Were Born to Live : A Guide to Finding Your Life Purpose (1995) by Dan Millman, p. 38.

• I feel within me a peace above all earthly dignities, a still and quiet conscience.
  • "Wolsey" in Henry VIII (c. 1613) by William Shakespeare

• This is the Spirit of Infinite Peace, and the moment we come into harmony with it there comes to us an inflowing tide of peace, for peace is harmony. A deep interior meaning underlies the great truth, "To be spiritually minded is life and peace." To recognize the fact that we are spirit, and to live in this thought, is to be spiritually minded, and so to be in harmony and peace. Oh, the thousands of men and women all about us weary with care, troubled and ill at ease, running hither and thither to find peace, weary in body, soul, and mind; going to other countries, traveling the world over, coming back, and still not finding it. Of course they have not found it and they never will find it in this way, because they are looking for it where it is not. They are looking for it without when they should look within. Peace is to be found only within, and unless one find it there he will never find it at all.
  Peace lies not in the external world. It lies within one's own soul. We may travel over many different avenues in pursuit of it, we may seek it through the channels of the bodily appetites and passions, we may seek it through all the channels of the external, we may chase for it hither and thither, but it will always be just beyond our grasp, because we are searching for it where it is not.
  • Ralph Waldo Trine, In Tune With The Infinite : Or, Fullness Of Peace, Power And Plenty (1910), p. 135.

• To be at one with God is to be at peace. The child simplicity is the greatest agency in bringing this full and complete realization, the child simplicity that recognizes its true relations with the Father's life. There are people I know who have come into such a conscious realization of their oneness with this Infinite Life, this Spirit of Infinite Peace, that their lives are fairly bubbling over with joy.
  • Ralph Waldo Trine, In Tune With The Infinite : Or, Fullness Of Peace, Power And Plenty (1910), p. 136.

• Peace: Real peace always comes from within. Without the practice of insight meditation and universal brotherhood, the inner peace cannot last long and our existence would be threatened.
  • Thích Nhật Từ, Inner Freedom: A Spiritual Journey for Prison Inmates (2008), ISBN 1741893909.

• Men do not mirror themselves in running water, they mirror themselves in still water. Only what is still can still the stillness of other things.
  • Zhuangzi, Ch. 5

External links