Dr. King once wrote, "The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the Beloved Community, while the aftermath of violence is tragic bitterness." While violence may be effective in temporarily keeping us safe from harm, it can never create relationships. Violence can never heal the harm that has been done. Violence can never bring about reconciliation. Violence can never create Beloved Community. Only love can do that.

- Kazu Haga, from the 2020 book "Healing Resistance, A Radically Different Response to Harm"

You must not let yourself drown in an ocean of fear and suffering. There are among us people who have practiced deep looking, and shared their insight with us. Take advantage of that. Walk on the spiritual path that lets you touch the depths of your being so that you can free yourself from fear, worry, and despair.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist Monk who founded the Plum Village Tradition of engaged Budhism

Perhaps it is true that we do not really exist until there is someone there to see us existing, we cannot properly speak until there is someone who can understand what we are saying in essence, we are not wholly alive until we are loved.

-Alain de Botton, Swiss-born British author and speaker

Who can wait quietly while the mind settles?
Who can remain still until the moment of action?
Observers of life do not seek fulfillment
Not seeking fulfillment they are not swayed by desire for change

Empty yourself of everything, let the mind become still
The 10,000 things rise and fall
While the self watches their return
They grow and flourish and then return to the source
Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of Nature

The way of Nature is unchanging
Knowing constancy is insight
Not knowing constancy leads to disaster
Knowing constancy the mind is open
With an open mind you will be open-hearted

Being open-hearted you will act royally
Being royal you will attain Life
Being Life you will be at one with Life
Being at one with Life is eternal
And though the body dies
Life will never pass away

Be still. Follow your inner wisdom. In order to know your inner wisdom, you have to be still. The person who knows how to be still and feel deeply will probably be effective. But the person who chatters and boasts and tries to impress has no center and carries little weight. Life works for those who follow life. Life serves those who serve life. When you are in touch with the single principal, you can consciously cooperate with it. Remember that the method is awareness of process. Reflect. Be Still. What do you deeply feel?

I will live my truth openly and honestly in the light of my growing consciousness, responsible for the consequences of my choices, and acting in behalf of all creation.

- John Heider, a group leader and teacher of group leaders and active at the Esalen Institute, and the Menninger Foundation School of Psychiatry, among other organizations.

True self-interest teaches selflessness.
Heaven and earth endure because they are not simply selfish but exist on behalf of all creation.
The wise person, knowing this, keeps egocentricity in check and by doing so becomes even more effective.
Enlightened leadership is service, not selfishness. The leader grows more and last longer by placing the well-being of all above the well-being of self alone.
Paradox: Be being selfless, the leader enhances self.