Aktive Direkt Hilfe e.V.

Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion towards men. – Albert Einstein.

We must understand spiritual truths and apply them to our modern life. We must draw strength from the almost forgotten virtues of simplicity, humility, contemplation, and prayer. It requires a dedication beyond science, beyond self, but the rewards are great and it is our only hope. – Charles Lindbergh.

The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it. – William James.

Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. – Norman MacEwan.

Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. – Omar N. Bradley.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart. – Helen Keller.

Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier. – Albert Schweitzer.

We are here to add what we can to, not what we can get from, life. – Sir William Osler.

DOne of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today. – Dale Carnegie.

Today is a most unusual day, because we have never lived it before; we will never live it again; it is the only day we have. – William A. Ward.

I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it. – Groucho Marx.

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.
– Mother Teresa.

One of the secrets of a long and fruitful life is to forgive everybody, everything, every night before you go to bed. – Bernard M. Baruchn

My idea of forgiveness is letting go of resentment ... ridding yourself of negative thoughts. All they do is make you miserable. Believe me, you can fret and fume all you want, but whoever it was that wronged you is not suffering from your anguish whatsoever. – Della Reese

A person who has an unforgiving spirit is always the real loser, much more so than the one against whom the grudge is held. … By refusing to forgive and by waiting for restitution to be made, individuals allow their personal growth and development to hinge on the decision of others they dislike to begin with. They allow themselves to be held hostage. They say, “If he apologizes.” “If she comes back to me.” “If he rehires me.” “If they invite me.” They play the game of waiting for others to make the first move. In the meantime they allow an unforgiving spirit to weave its way into the total fabric of their lives. – Charles Stanley

Holding on to hurt is like grabbing a rattlesnake by the tail: You are going to be bitten. – Charles Stanley

Resentment comes from two Latin words meaning “to feel again.” When we resent, we allow the negative emotions we feel at the time of a hurt—a disappointment, a betrayal—to recur long after the event is over, flooding our systems with their poisons over and over again. Because of its effect on the human mind and body, it does not matter how “justified” the resentment is. In my 27 years as a practicing psychiatrist—and in the 15 years before that when I was a medical doctor—I have come to regard resentment as a cancer of the personality that is as deadly as any physical growth. – James A. Stringham

Love lets the past die. It moves people to a new beginning without settling the past. Love does not have to clear up all past misunderstandings. The details of the past become irrelevant; only its new beginning matters. Accounts may go unsettled; differences remain unsolved; ledgers stay unbalanced. Conflicts between people’s memories of how things happened are not cleared up; the past stays muddled. Only the future matters. Love’s power does not make fussy historians. Love prefers to tuck the loose ends of past rights and wrongs in the bosom of forgiveness—and pushes us into a new start. – Lewis B. Smedes

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. – 1. Peter 4:8

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. – Matthew 5:9 NIV.

I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed. – The 14th Dalai Lama (b. 1935)

We who work for peace must not falter. We must continue to pray for peace and to act for peace in whatever way we can, we must continue to speak for peace and to live the way of peace; to inspire others, we must continue to think of peace and to know that peace is possible. – Peace Pilgrim (1908–1981), born Mildred Lisette Norman, pacifist and peace activist.

If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations.
If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities.
If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace between neighbors.
If there is to be peace between neighbors, there must be peace in the home.
If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart. – Lao Tzu (570–490 BC).

The followers of Jesus have been called to peace. When He called them they found their peace, for He is their peace. But now they are told that they must not only have peace but make it. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945), German Lutheran pastor and theologian.

If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile and blossom like a flower, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace. – Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926), Vietnamese Buddhist monk and peace activist.

If you yourself are at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world. – Thomas Merton (1915–1968), Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic.

Peacemaking is a healing process and it begins with me, but it does not end there. – Gene Knudsen Hoffman (1919–2010), writer and peace activist.

As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself.... Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but also humility. – Nelson Mandela (b. 1918), South African statesman and recipient of the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.