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Main | Messages | Press Release

Xavier Cortada has worked with participants to create powerful message murals across America, Europe and Africa. These murals are important to the artist not just because of their power to commemorate, to educate and to advocate, but also because of their ability to document humanity’s response to the ongoing problem of violence against children.

Individuals were asked to post their message on-line to be printed and added by Cortada to the Protecting America’s Children Mural.

Participants shared their thoughts, feelings, and hopes on the issues of child abuse and neglect, violence prevention, non-violent resolution of problems, etc. Poems, songs, and inspirational messages were also welcome.

Below are some of the messages incorporated in the CWLA mural:

This National Child Abuse Prevention Month, let’s really commit to STOPPING THE VIOLENCE AND PREVENTING ABUSE!
– Jane

“My message is my life.”
– Mahatma Ghandi

What could that child have possibly done to you?
– Annonymous

“Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away at its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true. “
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

If I am not for myself,
Who will be for me?
If I am only for myself,
What am I?
If not now,
When?
– Rabbi Hillel

“I pledge to do everything in my power to keep every child safe from harm.  Please join with me.”
– Sharon,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

“Human beings are the only creatures that allow their children to come back home.”
– Bill Cosby

“Brighter Futures Are Within Our Reach!”
– Melinda Schriver,
Washington, DC

“Be gentle with the young.”
– Juvenal

“Children succeed when they can reach for the stars.”
– Anonymous, Washington, DC

Let’s live our lives as though children truly are “our most precious resource”
– National Center for Assault Prevention,
New Jersey

Let Our children speak,
Their voices be heard
Our time has expired;
No more words.
They’re the future, we the past
Listen to their song
A future to forecast;

Let Our children speak,
Of mistakes we’ve made
Help them to understand
You can’t keep pulling down shades

Let Our children speak
Or there will be
No tomorrow.
– Submitted by Dahveed
I’m feeling so worn out…I just can’t scream and shout
You’re coming home for me…
Whatever did I say…To make you act this way?
I’m your little angel…So why am I cryin?
What would you say if I would tell?
Would you release me from this cell?

You said this would not hurt, would not hurt
But I don’t feel well. I said that I don’t wanna…
How do you see to be loved?
Wonderful view from above
How does it feel to be loved
I wouldn’t know…

Freudian Slip

Please Don’t Believe Me

Jimmy’s walking home from school
talking with his friend
But when they get to Jimmy’s house
he can’t invite him in
Jimmy says his mom’s not well
and tells his friend good-bye
He keeps a secret as he slowly walks inside

Cause Mom’s been drinking
and right now she doesn’t care
About this awful burden her child must bear,
he’s begging

Please don’t believe me when I say I’m ok
Look a little deeper for the words that I can’t say
I’m too small to stand alone, I sure could use a friend
Help me learn to trust someone again
Don’t leave me
Please don’t believe me

There’s a house that’s dark and quiet
where little Amy sleeps
There’s footsteps in the bedroom
where someone shouldn’t be
Somebody whispers I’ll hurt you if you tell
Amy keeps the secret and blames it on herself,
her smile is just a shell

Oh the years fly by for the ones who survive
Till they look like grown ups, and nobody hears them
Nobody hears them cry
– From Terry Sue Crawford’s new album, Deep

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
– FDR, 1937 Inagural

“Many of the things we need can wait. The child cannot wait. Right now is the time its bones are being formed, its blood is being made and its senses are being developed. To this child we cannot answer, “Tomorrow.” The child’s name is Today.”
– Gabriella Mistral, Chilean Nobel Prize Winner

Children are 25% of the US population and 100% of our future.

Our kids need us. Ever notice that a human child doesn’t walk until it’s tall enough to reach a parent’s hand?

“At our best level of existence, we are parts of a family, and at our highest level of achievement, we work to keep the family alive.”
– Maya Angelou

“If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.”
-Pearl Buck

“Children are the largest minority group in society, and the minority that is most subject to discrimination but least recognized as being so.
– Penelope Leach, Children First

“Too often children get the worst of both worlds: neither the privileges accorded to adults nor the care and protection that should be their birthright.”
– Anon.

“In the little world in which children have their existence, there is nothing so finely felt, and so finely perceived, as injustice.”
– Charles Dickens

“We look forward to a time when our children will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

“When will justice come? When those who are not injured become as indignant as those who are.”
-Leon Tolstoy

400,000 US kids have fallen below the poverty line since we invaded Iraq.
– (Dec. ’04 stat, probably lots larger now)

We now know that babies as young as 4 months old can suffer from depression, and that people suffer long-term effects from witnessing trauma in the first 4 months of life. Just because infants cannot speak is no reason they should have no voice.
– Joy Osofsky,
Pew Commission member, April 2004

In life, as in basketball, you always miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
“Of all the civil rights for which the world has struggled and fought for 5,000 years, the right to learn is undoubtedly the most fundamental.”
– W.E.B. DuBois

“If there’s a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child.”
– Barak Obama

“Nothing stops a bullet like a book.”
– Shay Bilchik

If I had my child to raise over again I’d do less correcting and more connecting.
Fact: US prison spending grew five times as fast as education spending between 1985 and 2002.
Spending more money on prisons than schools
Is government by, and for, felons and fools.
– Anon

If present trends continue, one of every three US black children born in 2001 will go to prison by age 30.
– Marian Wright Edelman,
1/27/05, The Tennessean

Since 1993 teacher wages have fallen 11.5 percent relative to other workers with similar education and skills.
– Economic Policy Institute

Title IV-E foster care and adoption dollars – federal support for those children who need our help the most — account for less than ½ of 1% of all current federal entitlement spending.
– CWLA Govt. Affairs, 2005

The United States ranks 23rd among 26 developed countries in infant mortality, although we rank first in medical technology. Ghana, Croatia, and Syria all have better rankings than the USA.
– CDF web site

All works of love are works of peace.
– Mother Teresa

“If we want peace, we have to begin with the children.” Mahatma Gandhi
– Mary Liepold, Washington, DC

I have no children of my own. When I was a young girl I read, “The Baby Trap” and decided just a husband and a wife could be a family. I’m still single. So all the world’s children are my family.
– Barbara Roos, Arlington VA

Honor the courage and bravery of all who have survived child sexual abuse. Mourn the souls of those lost. Create a world of safety, free of abuse and violence for all who follow.
– Lukima, Mechanicsburg, PA

I weep and no one answers. My voice is hoarse because I cannot cry anymore. Why won’t anyone come to my rescue? What did I do wrong to make people not hear my cry? Finally, I realize I did nothing wrong. They could not hear me because nothing was coming out any more. I had screamed myself silent Maybe someday GOD will hear my silent cry and I will be free again until then I just weep in silence. Stop the violence. Speak out. It can never hurt. Just help
– Shawn, Temple Hills, MD

The most powerful emotion we have is love and compassion. Share it freely with the children of the world and the world will be a better place for their children. Protect the children of the world.
– Carol Corden, Belmont, California

We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but the worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the foundation of life. Many of the things we need, can wait. The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are being formed, his blood is being made and his senses are being developed. To him we cannot answer, Tomorrow. His name is Today.
Gabriela Mistral, Chilean poet, Nobel laureate
– submitted by: Therese Libert, Pittsburgh, PA

“Who’s for Kids and Who’s Just Kidding?” We must do the hard work of supporting children and families over time, and stop talking about what’s wrong and making excuses for inaction…
– Mark Riley, Arlington, Virginia

A child doesn’t want to have a saddened story but a child wants to experience glory. They want to have hope but they don’t want their mom to do dope. They want a voice because they don’t have a choice. They want love because they are just like a gentle dove. Help a child live a good life without strife. Children are one of a kind and now is the time to lend a piece of your mind.
– Margaret Horner, Rome, NY

It’s time to turn all facets of our world into hopes and dreams for all our children.
– Dale Ann Cox, Maryville, TN

Walking through the woods,
From Georgia to Maine,
Taking steps to help kids,
Steps to lessen their pain.
We can each make a difference,
We must all do our part,
To keep our kids smiling,
And close to our hearts.
Moo & 42, Birmingham, Alabama
– Appalachian Trail Hike for Kids ’03,

Jesus said, “Suffer not the little children….”
– Lucy Cormier, Columbus, Ohio

Las ninas y los ninos reflejan la verdad de nosotros. Protejanlos.
Girls and boys reflect what is true in us.
Protect them.
– Eloisa Abislaiman, Tampa, Fl

Child welfare cannot be founded upon money-as it is across the Nation right now- the only best interest is in the green dollar bill, not children. CPS is not protecting children, they are harming them and the long lasting impact from that destruction is breaking our traditions, values and family makeup to the point of oblivion. Children deserve to have a family and know who they are and where they came from. Relatives and friends should be the first ones chosen to care for a child removed from parents’ care and home, not the last! Stand tall and together- protect children from CPS- corrupt to the core.
– Robin Scoins, Peoria, AZ

My thoughts and prayers are with all children who are denied the safety and security of a well balanced home with a loving parent(s)or care-taker whom they can trust in and rely on for unconditional love and support throughout their childhood years. No child should feel unloved or unwanted.
– Barbara Miller, San Jose, CA

Yes I think I’m okay
I walked into the door again
Well, if you ask that’s what I’ll say
And it’s not your business anywayI guess I’d like to be alone
With nothing broken, nothing thrown
Just don’t ask me how I am
Just don’t ask me how I am
Just don’t ask me how I am
– Suzanne Vega, Luka

Sometimes, when I read about yet another child who is hurt or killed by the people who are supposed to love and protect them, I wonder why I’ve been in child welfare for over thirty years. Sometimes it seems like nothing changes. But every now and then I get a letter or a phone call from a child now grown who says thank you. They are thanking me for trying and just maybe, in some small way, that was enough.
– Beth Tarquinio, Detroit, Michigan

Violence against children is intolerable. All children deserve to be in a home that creates a supportive and loving environment for them to grow and thrive in.
– Kimberly Fischer, New York, New York

Children are the lifeblood of this county. Every child deserves our protection, love and care. I ask the Goddess to watch over all of them.
– Linda Cornell, Hesperia, California

Every child born has the right to be wanted, loved, valued, and respected. As adults we must determine that NO ONE tramples on or ignores this right, because children cannot do this for themselves.
– Roberta Nauman, Elgin, IL

God gives us a blessing when he allows a child to be born. When someone hurts a child, they are dishonoring him because these children aren’t our–they are God’s own. Love and protect your blessing always.
– Kimberly Nelson, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Per Colin Raye’s song: “The 11th Commandment” as adults we should “Honor Thy Children”
– Randy Hildebrand, Aurora, IN

We must join together to protect our MOST Precious Resource, Our Children
– Pamela Rowse, RN, Las Vegas, NV

“Neither the Fourteenth Amendment nor the Bill of Rights is for adults alone”
– Application of Gault, 87 S.Ct. 1428
– Corinne Stashuk, Gainesville, Florida

“With each child, the world begins anew”
–Midrash, the written interpretations of the 5 Books of Moses in Judaism
– submitted by Randi S. Rubin Rodriguez, New Haven, CT

All children have the right to fulfill their full potential as human beings and the right to be free of abuse, neglect and exploitation. The best way to protect their rights is to provide their parents with the best training to raise them effectively and peacefully.
– Kerby T. Alvy, Ph.D., Studio City, California

What could be more important, more productive, more ethical, or more just than a clear commitment by our society to the PREVENTION of child maltreatment?
– Preston Britner; Editor, The Journal of Primary Prevention, Hampton, Connecticut

Every person can make a difference. Celebrate children and their parents. Thank them for taking care of the little ones. Watch out for them too. Wrap your community’s arms around them. Report suspected abuse or neglect.
– Lynne Martinez, Lansing, Michigan

Every child deserves respect, affirmation, and the unconditional belief that they are valued and wanted.
– Judith Brown Clarke, Lansing, Michigan

This is one way to help bring the issue of parental substance use in the child welfare system to the forefront.
– Joyce Washburn, Grand Rapids, Michigan

“No matter how hard the task, no obstacle is to difficult to overcome.” Believe in yourselves, and strive to accomplish great things. May God Bless all of you, and keep you safe in the mist of all things.Officer Antilecia Contee, Washington, DC

My dream– that the world, in all its richness and glory and with all its opportunities, be equally accessible to all children, everywhere.
– Carol A. Siemon, East Lansing, MI

“A Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families.”                                     – Psalms 68:5-6a

When a child is in trouble, don’t ask if there is any thing you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.
– Kathy Barbell
Vice President,
Program Operations,
CWLA
Washington, DC

What we want for our children is the antithesis of violence….to be loved by someone and return that love; to have the chance to develop their skills and talents and find meaning in how they apply them; and to have hope as they wake each day that it will bring something good into their life.
– Shay Bilchik
President and CEO, CWLA
Washington, DC

My heart has been broken!
My heart is special in every way.
When you break my heart
there is nothing I can do.
When you hurt me all I can do is cry.
All day long.
Every step I take,
Every move I make,
You always break my heart.
– Poem submitted by a child victim
New Haven, CT

Cherish our children;
cherish our future.
– Anonymous
Washington, DC

Keep your head up young child; don’t let that girl or guy get you down.
Keep on believing that you can make someone see the great light in life.
Believe in yourself and then believe in someone else
Keep your head up young child
– From “Young Child” by Tieshia Saunders
Grade 12, age 18
IDEA Public Charter School

We need to make a change in this world today
Violence and bad attitudes are not the way
We livin’ in a world full of tragedy
This ain’t the way it’s supposed to be
Teens and violence don’t make a good combination
We need to watch out for our younger generation
In this world there’s way too much trouble
We need to make a change on the double.
From “Let’s Start Treatin’ Each Other Right”
– By Rochelle DeLaine
Grade 12, age 17
IDEA Public Charter School

How can we stop all this violence?
One way is not to keep our silence, make a stand and do what’s right
Talk out your problems, don’t start a fight
When faced with issues, try to keep your cool,
Don’t get locked up and feel like a fool.
Try not to have violent words to say.
Think of things in a positive way.
What’s the deal with teens hurting one another?
If we lessen the hate, we’ll produce the love;
It’s the best way to get rid of all this violent stuff.
Lack of concern produceth hate; care produceth love,
We need to look for wisdom from the man above.
Whatever the problem that maybe—
Let’s show concern and start treatin’ each other right
Cause that’s the only way we can win this fight.
We can win this fight.
We can win this fight.
We can win this fight.
From “Let’s Start Treatin’ Each Other Right”
– By Rochelle DeLaine
Grade 12, age 17
IDEA Public Charter School

Teen violence is a never-ending situation.
Little problems escalate because of misinformation.
This vicious cycle kills sisters, nieces, nephews, and brothers
With the heartache and pain left to bare by the mothers.
Our precious young are being neglected and are becoming extinct.
We have to help those who are affected now
There’s no time to sit and think
About who will be the first to put this cycle to an end,
Because while we’re waiting it could be me, or it could be you, my friend.
Teens are fighting one another when they should be loving and helping each other.
So now this issue is right in front of our face, we can’t sit back and forget the race.
Instead of sitting still in one place, let’s stand up and put teen violence in its place.
Death, yes, death to teen violence!
– From “Teen Violence” by Shamia Irving
Grade 12, age 17
IDEA Public Charter School

Are you wondering why
The parents don’t let you children do what you wish?
Teach them right, if you don’t it could be your child’s life tonight
It’s nothing good coming out no matter how it ends up
Our teens, your teens’ minds are just so corrupt.
So teach your kids morals, values and manners, too,
And stop wondering why, because the peace
Starts with, why you?
– From “Wondering Why” by Austin Gerald
Grade 12, age 17
IDEA Public Charter School

Teenage violence that forms gray skies
Teenage lives lost, mother’s cry because their sons die
Expectations are watching, tempting and hovering over them.
Materialistic crafts, which can be replace
Another burden of life for it could go to waste
It hits our generation raw with no crumbs to replace
There’s nothing anyone can do—
We’re simply shaped by our FATE
From Shaped by Fate”
– by Guy DeGreaffenreidte
Grade 12, Age 18
IDEA Public Charter School
Teen violence is an issue
That cannot be solved with only a look
Filed with crying, suffering, and despair.
Why won’t those who care actually say what they fear?
Because you never know if their advice will help,
And even if your best side doesn’t come out
At least you will know that you tried to do something.
To help that one person
Who needed the reassuring
To just walk away
So they could experience a day
Without any fighting or hating.
We were not meant to live in a place
Filled with so much pressure,
And in some places hate.
When we should be able
To live in a world without violence.
– From “Teen Violence” by Diana McVay
Grade 11, age 16
IDEA Public Charter School
The world we live in is a foreign place
Filled with lost souls and a cold heart
With no sense of purpose or direction
Or maybe they’re just lacking motivation
To do big things and achieve every dream
We’re not all the same
There are those who I like to call the “exceptions”
And these few who shine bright
With warmth and ambition, are the victims of some selfish jealous action
It’s ridiculous how much we try to bring others down to put ourselves on top
Violent acts and negative mindsets, are breaking us down
What could be the cause of this extent of evil one can posses?
We need to come together
And find the cure for all humanity
It may take time
But we gotta start somewhere
‘Cuz, I don’t know about you,
But I want more for my kids
They say each generation
Is supposed to improve from the last one
But if this bud of a nation can’t bloom if there is none,
The only solution to hate is love
And you can’t love somebody else
Until you take a look in the mirror,
And find a way to love yourself.
– From “Hope” by Bethany Weister
Grade 12, age 17
IDEA Public Charter School

If I could be your arms,
You’d reach without grabbing,
If I could be your support,
You’d grip without grappling.
If I could be your sorrow,
You’d cry without tears.
If I could be your wings,
You’d fly without fear.
If I could be your music,
You’d be the sweetest tune.
If I could be your leisure,
You’d always be soothed.
If I could be God,
I wouldn’t know what to do.
If I could be his angel,
I’d always be there to protect you.
– From “If I Could” by Guy DeGreaffenreidte
Grade 12, age 18
IDEA Public Charter School

All this time I was in fear of you. It was you who didn’t understand me and in not understanding me you feared me and because of your fear of me, hate became your fuel and as it, so has it. We try everyday to destroy what we hate whether it be with our words or our fist, or some other form of hatred. Well, I was told that everything would work out for me some day. As for you, I feel sorry for you—sorry that you never tried to understand me, but now it’s too late and all I have to say is so long to the pain and goodnight to the heartache. No longer will I cry for you, sit up late at night and wonder why I thought I should I should die for you. Finally, I’m free of you.
No longer will I hurt for you.
I fear you no more.
– From “I Fear You” by Michael Moore
Grade 11, age 17
IDEA Public Charter School

He was young, only seventeen at the time.
His dad was never home and his mom not alive.
One Day he got mixed-up with a bunch of guys, who convinced him that shooting someone who had robbed him was not a crime.
So he shot the robber three times in the chest.
The next day the police came to make an arrest.
A couple months later, his court date arose.
And before he knew it,
He was sentenced to life, no parole.
One year later and still in jail,
He thought of his friends and how they had bailed.
Realizing his mistake, he got so upset, but all he could do now is sit and regret!
– From “His Regret” by Crystal Nedd
Grade 12, age 16

They say that the good die young.
That’s why I think you should go out and have fun.
Because time waits for no one.
When God calls, don’t cry.
Just go home with a poor sigh.
From “The Good Die Young”
– by Dominique Howard
Grade 12, age 17
IDEA Public Charter School
I can shape you in anyway, depending on the words that I say.
I can turn your greatest joys into deepest sorrows of hate.
I can manipulate, then again I can also enlighten
I come in all flavors and different style, I’m Omni cited
I can be relaxing, and with me your mind will be soothe.
I can be positive, through vocals, and release the grace in you
I can deceive people, and make what’s bad seem good to you
So you people are like minnows, and in this world, I am the sea
I’m not bad, it just depends on the person whose expressing me.
– From “Music” by Guy DeGreaffenreidte
Grade 12, age 18
IDEA Public Charter School

You see, my daddy was into the streets, but he made a living to support his family.
Until one day, the streets took my daddy away from me. The street gunned down my daddy, and he never came back –
Only because they thought he was somebody else from the back.
– From “My Daddy” by Jeanae Ward
Grade 12, age 18
IDEA Public Charter School

Lord, hear this lost soul’s prayer. I know Lord, a life for a life.
So Lord, if you take me, bless my unborn baby and tell her that Daddy is sorry.
The life I lived finally claimed me.
But baby, I will be here.
Every time your heart beats, I’ll be there walkin’ and standin’ beside you.
– From “A Thug’s Prayer” by Jazmyne Dyer
Grade 12, age 18
IDEA Public Charter School

Precious fetus, never given the chance to develop features.
Born without the choice to live or die.
Who gave him the right to decide the fate of a mother’s child?
All that potential diminished by a baseball bat.
Unborn, yet, alive inside her net.
Now its soul is to rest in peace –
An eternal sleep to the melodic rustling of winged angels.
– From “Buried in her womb” by Indya Wright
Grade 11, age 16
IDEA Public Charter School
…For a moment the sound was almost soothing. Then, he heard an all too familiar voice. Her screams created such a disturbing noise. It was his mother standing over a lifeless body. Crying, “Oh my God! Someone shot my baby!”
All that boy wanted was that guy dead,
But a bullet had gone astray and he shot his sister in the head.
– From “Unfortunate Revenge” by Nicole Williams
Grade 12, age 18
IDEA Public Charter School

I’m eighteen now and even though I’ve been to the ER endless times for broken bones and cracked ribs, I still can’t leave him even though I know I should. My heart just can’t comprehend. This man I love is no good.
One day I’ll get the power to leave him.
I hope I will.
– From “Untitled” by Tiffany Tomlinson
Grade 12, age 18
IDEA Public Charter School

Now it’s too late to turn the clock back.
I should have just spoken to him man to man.
Now, my mother has to make funeral arrangements to put me under the dark sand.
From “No Turning Back”
– by Devin Richardson
Grade 11, age 17
IDEA Public Charter School

Now the baby flies straight to home in an eternal sleep to melodic rustling of angels in flight.
Coach won by himself with no remorse.
Basking in the solitary victory. But he failed to acknowledge
God is the referee and justice will have the final outcome.
Game over.
From “Breaking the Rules”
– by Indya Wright
Grade 11, age 16
IDEA Public Charter School

There’s a thin line between love and hate.
A young woman crying and scared for her fate.
She’s loved him ever since they met, but after a while there are many secrets she has kept. Every night she writes:
“Dear Diary, I love him but I don’t. There are many things I want to tell but I won’t. He hurts me but I’ll be okay, I can’t go back home anyway. Why does he treat me this way?
From “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate”
– By Natascha Gerald
Grade 11, age 16
IDEA Public Charter School

This mural will serve as a powerful and visible reminder of how the IDEA students overcame their struggles and their fears, and through artistic expression and civic engagement, created a masterpiece for their fellow and future students to enjoy for years to come.
– LTC (R) William T. Dexter
Principal, IDEA Public Charter School

There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they grow up in peace.
– Kofi A. Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations

We cannot change the past, but we can change our attitude toward it. Uproot guilt and plant forgiveness. Tear out arrogance and seed humility. Exchange love for hate — thereby, making the present comfortable and the future promising.
– Maya Angelou

In every child who is born, no matter what circumstances, and of no matter what parents, the potentiality of the human race is born again: and in him, too, once more, and of each of us, our terrific responsibility toward human life; toward the utmost idea of goodness, of the horror of terror, and of God.
– James Agee

Youth is the first victim of war; the first fruit of peace. It takes 20 years or more of peace to make a man; it takes only 20 seconds of war to destroy him.
– King Baudouin I, King of Belgium

We do not inherit the earth from our fathers. We borrow it from our children.
– David Bower

Peace is that state in which fear of any kind is unknown.
– John Buchan

There is no such thing as defeat in non-violence.
– Cesar Chavez

Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for the timid or weak…Non-violence is hard work. It is the willingness to sacrifice. It is the patience to win.
– Cesar Chavez

We are, each of us angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by embracing one another.
– Luciano de Crescenzo

Poetry is an act of peace. Peace goes into the making of a poet as flour goes into the making of bread.
– Pablo Neruda, Memoirs (Confieso Que He Vivido: Memorias) (1974)

For it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.
– Eleanor Roosevelt

I don’t do great things. I do small things with great love.
– Mother Teresa