7 Quotes by Lanza del Vasto

A peacemaker does not mean a peaceful person.

Find the shortest, simplest way between the earth, the hands, and the mouth.

The most efficient action, the most significant testimony to nonviolence, is living a life in which there is no violence-showing that such a life is possible, and even not more difficult than a life of gain, nor more unpleasant than a life of pleasure, nor less natural than an ‘ordinary’ life.

The machine enslaves, the hand sets free.

You want a better, more fraternal, more just world? Well then, start building it: Who is stopping you? Build it inside yourself and around you, build it with those who want it. Build it small, and it will grow.

In the practice of any craft, we are less concerned with the quantity of the product than with its quality, and less concerned with the product than with the artisan.

Nobody was born nonviolent. No one was born charitable. None of us comes to these things by nature but only by conversion. The first duty of the nonviolent community is helping its members work upon themselves and come to conversion.