Bertha von Suttner

“I wanted to be of service to the Peace League, and how could I better do so than by trying to write a book which should propagate its ideas? And I could do it most effectively, I thought, in the form of a story.”

“After the verb 'to Love', 'to Help' is the most beautiful verb in the world.”

“The instinct of self-preservation in human society, acting almost subconsciously, as do all drives in the human mind, is rebelling against the constantly refined methods of annihilation and against the destruction of humanity.”

“Alfred Nobel believed that social changes are brought about slowly, and sometimes by indirect means.”

“I am quite sure that from America will come the greatest help for the cause of peace, and I consider it my duty to inform the people of Europe as to the feelings and intentions of the friends of peace in Europe.”

“How can justice be attained when, in the expiation of an old wrong, another wrong is to be committed? No reasonable creature would conceive of the idea of obliterating ink stains with ink, or spots of oil with oil. Only blood must be washed out with blood.”

“One of the eternal truths is that happiness is created and developed in peace, and one of the eternal rights is the individual's right to live.”

“Seek not good from without: seek it within yourselves, or you will never find it.”

“The stars of eternal truth and right have always shone in the firmament of human understanding. The process of bringing them down to earth, remolding them into practical forms, imbuing them with vitality, and then making use of them, has been a long one.”