Definition of peace

There are two different kinds of peace: peace with others and peace within oneself. Peace with others might be defined as “The absence of war or other hostilities,” or “Freedom from quarrels and disagreement; harmonious relations,” as thefreedictionary.com says. Under this category falls peace between nations, between family members, and between humans and other beings. We talk of living at peace with God, at peace with nature, and at peace with situations, in this way. Peace between nations is a cause for which many people have striven, as evidenced by the many quotes I found about it. People have taken many sides on the issue of world peace. Some say it is impossible, others that it is imperative. For example, Bill Clinton said in 1997, “The real differences around the world today are not between Jews and Arabs; Protestants and Catholics; Muslims, Croats, and Serbs. The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it; between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past; between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists.” Herbert Hoover said that peace between countries had to be preceded by peace within oneself: “Peace is not made at the Council table or by treaties, but in the hearts of men.”

Peace within oneself might be defined as tranquility, repose, calmness, or a lack of stress. This kind of peace can also be possessed by a place: e. g. “the peace of a mountain resort,” an example from dictionary.reference.com. It is this kind of peace—stillness, quietness, and calmness—that people are arrested for disturbing, and that people want after a hard day’s work. It is this kind of peace that a guilty conscience does not allow. As George Eliot said, “I could not live in peace if I put the shadow of a wilful sin between myself and God.”