Quotes About Conflict

The beauty and variety of the natural world are merely the visible legacies of endless war.

whenever I would feel such happiness my guilt alarm went off

The great Sufi poet and philosopher Rumi once advised his students to write down the three things they most wanted in life. If any item on the list clashes with any other item, Rumi warned, you are destined for unhappiness.

Let it be sufficient to say that, on this night, he was still my lighthouse and albatross in equal measure. The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying; the only thing more impossible than staying was leaving. I didn't want to destroy anything or anybody. I just wanted to slip quietly out the back door, without causing any fuss or consequences, and then not stop running until I reached Greenland.

I equal parts loved him and could not stand him. I couldn't wake him to share in my distress.

There are always two figures in a marriage, two votes, two conflicting sets of decisions, desires and limitations.

Our relationship now thoroughly ruined, with even civility destroyed between us, all I wanted anymore was the door.

All the pain of a human life is caused by words, as is all the joy.

I am openly prideful, secretly judgemental, and cowardly in conflict.

There are only two questions that human beings have ever fought over, all through history. How much do you love me? And Who's in charge?

This is what we are like. Collectively, as a species, this is our emotional landscape. I met an old lady once, almost one hundred years old, and she told me, There are only two questions that human beings have ever fought over, all through history. How much do you love me? And Who's in charge? Everything else is somehow manageable. But these two questions of love and control undo us all, trip us up and cause war, grief and suffering.

all the sorrow and trouble of this world is caused by unhappy people.

My husband was sleeping in the other room, in our bed. I equal parts loved him and could not stand him. I couldn't wake him to share in my distress-what would be the point?

We'd been fighting and crying, and we were weary in that way that only a couple whose marriage is collapsing can be weary. We had the eyes of refugees.

there are always two figures in a marriage, after all-two votes, two opinions, two conflicting sets of decisions, desires and limitations.

The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying; the only thing more impossible than staying was leaving. I didn't want to destroy anything or anybody. I just wanted to slip quietly out the back door, without causing any fuss or consequences...

She also knew this: if she had to kill somebody in order to save her own life, she would do so unhesitatingly. Lastly, she knew one other thing, and this was the most important realization of all: she knew that the world was plainly divided into those who fought an unrelenting battle to live, and those who surrendered and died.

She and I respect each other, which makes up for the fact that we dislike each other.

There are only two questions that human beings have ever fought over, all through history. How much do you love me? And Who's in charge? Everything else is somehow manageable. But these two questions of love and control undo us all, trip us up and cause war, grief and suffering.

The most urgent war is always the one fought at home.

Giulio and Maria have a beautiful apartment, the most impressive feature of which is, to my mind, the wall that Maria once covered with angry curses against Giulio (scrawled in black magic marker) because they were having an argument and 'he yells louder than me' and she wanted to get a word in edgewise.

But it is my understanding that the health of the planet is affected by the health of every individual on it. As long as even two souls are locked in conflict, the whole of the world is contaminated by it.

a fight in the courts would be infinitely more expensive and time-consuming, not to mention soul-corroding.

I met an old lady once, almost one hundred years old, and she told me, There are only two questions that human beings have ever fought over, all through history: How much do you love me? and Who's in charge? Everything else is somehow manageable. But these two questions of love and control undo us all, trip us up and cause war, grief and suffering.