Daisaku Ikeda

“Men and women who know the brutal reality of war, who know that war strips people of their very humanity, must unite in a new global partnership for peace.”

“Living here on Earth, we breathe the rhythms of a universe that extends infinitely above us. When resonant harmonies arise between this vast outer cosmos and the inner human cosmos, poetry is born.”

“I firmly believe that the mission of religion in the 21st century must be to contribute concretely to the peaceful coexistence of humankind.”

“No one can live entirely on their own, nor can any country or society exist in isolation.”

“In the past, human society provided encouragement and opportunity for people to extend support to each other, especially in highly stressful situations.”

“Divorced from the cosmos, from nature, from society and from each other, we have become fractured and fragmented.”

“Rather than turning away from the staggering scale and depth of misery caused by war, we must strive to develop our capacity to empathize and feel the sufferings of others.”

“When human beings live together, conflict is inevitable. War is not.”

“I have for some time urged that a nuclear abolition summit to mark the effective end of the nuclear era be convened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 70th anniversary of the bombings of those cities, with the participation of national leaders and representatives of global civil society.”