Daisaku Ikeda Quotes
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The gratification of desire is not happiness.
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Divorced from the cosmos, from nature, from society and from each other, we have become fractured and fragmented.
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But I think we need to remember that democracy everywhere is by its nature incomplete, a work in progress.
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In the past, human society provided encouragement and opportunity for people to extend support to each other, especially in highly stressful situations.
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When human beings live together, conflict is inevitable. War is not.
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Rather than turning away from the staggering scale and depth of misery caused by war, we must strive to develop our capacity to empathize and feel the sufferings of others.
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A healthy vision of the future is not possible without an accurate knowledge of the past.
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I firmly believe that the mission of religion in the 21st century must be to contribute concretely to the peaceful coexistence of humankind.
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Ultimately, all human activities have as their goal the realization of happiness. Why, then, have we ended up producing the opposite result? Could the underlying cause be our failure to correctly understand the true nature of happiness?
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Dialogue and education for peace can help free our hearts from the impulse toward intolerance and the rejection of others.
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But I believe we must not allow feelings of defeat to take root in our hearts.
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The eyes of a poet discover in each person a unique and irreplaceable humanity. While arrogant intellect seeks to control and manipulate the world, the poetic spirit bows with reverence before its mysteries.
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Self-centered anger generates evil, but wrath at social injustice becomes the driving force for reform. Strong language that censures and combats a great evil often awakens adverse reactions from society, but this must not intimidate those who believe they are right. A lion is a lion because he roars.
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It is natural for us, as human beings, to look forward. Our eyes naturally look ahead. In this sense, we are made for moving toward a goal.
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Patience is, in and of itself, a great challenge and it often holds the key to breaking through a seeming impasse.
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The determination to win is the better part of winning.
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Leadership that exploits and sacrifices young people on the altar of its goals is nothing more than raw, demonic power. Genuine leadership is found in ceaseless efforts to foster young people, to pave the way forward for them.
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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.
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What is defeat in life? It is not merely making a mistake; defeat means giving up on yourself in the midst of difficulty. What is true success in life? True success means winning in your battle with yourself. Those who persist in the pursuit of their dreams, no matter what the hurdles, are winners in life, for they have won over their weaknesses.
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We are not merely passive pawns of historical forces; nor are we victims of the past. We can shape and direct history.
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It is important that we have the inner richness to be able to look up at the stars or the moon and compose a poem once in a while. When we open wide our minds and fix our gaze on the universe, we fix our gaze on our own life.
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Extreme poverty threatens people's right to life itself and makes impossible the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms essential to a humane way of life.
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Humanity has experienced many revolutionary changes over the course of history: revolutions in agriculture, in science, industrial production, as well as numerous political revolutions. But these have all been limited to the external aspects of our individual and collective lives.
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With love and patience, nothing is impossible.