To increase the effectiveness of international institutions and to create new institutions at the international and national levels will require committed action by individuals and civil society organizations. We all need to realize that with rights come responsibilities. Change does not occur magically. It occurs because individuals engage with societal problems and take actions to create a better world. Often, change occurs person to person. Each of us can be an agent for change in the world. We are each as powerful as we choose to be.

 We can each start by choosing peace and making a firm commitment to peace with justice. This means that we make peace a central issue and priority in our lives and demonstrate peace in all we do. We can live peace, educate for peace, speak out for peace and support and vote for candidates who call for peace. In choosing peace, we also choose hope rather than ignorance, complacency or despair. Hope gives rise to action, and action in turn gives rise to increased possibility for change and to further hope. It is a spiral in which action deepens commitment, which leads to more action.  Like others who have chosen the path of peace—Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama—we must realize that it will not be a quick or easy journey.  The path will require of you courage, compassion and commitment. The rewards may be few, except your own understanding of the necessity of the journey. The path to peace will require persistence. You may be tempted to leave the path, but what you do for peace you do for humanity. In the struggle for a better world and more decent future, we are not allowed to give up. Our efforts to create a culture of peace are a gift to humanity and the future. What better gift could we give to our fellow citizens of the planet and to future generations than our courage, compassion and commitment in the cause of peace?

(Excerpted from Voices for a Culture of Peace Vol.1 and reprinted with permission from Culture of Peace Press.)

Sensitivity is a personality trait. In and of itself, it is neither good nor bad. But if you have that trait, you can choose to turn it into a plus.

For example, should a friend criticize you, you could turn it into a positive by thinking deeply about what has been said so you can correct a possible fault. Whatever has been said, however, is certainly not something you need to worry over. If you feel stung, take a moment to congratulate yourself on having the capacity for humility and self-reflection. People who are indifferent often lack any perspective for self improvement.

My mentor, Josei Toda, taight me about this, showing me that the best way to avoid losing confidence or falling into needless despair over criticism is to learn to be a good listener. Instead of becoming defensive or thinking immediately that you are hopeless, choose to allow yourself to be stimulated toward further personal growth. Actively listen to what is being said in order to find the positive nugget.

That having been said, after sifting through the criticism for whatever value there might be, it is very important that you are determined not to brood over it or withdraw into your shell.

(Excerpted from The Way of Youth and reprinted with permission from Middleway Press.)

ANSWER: People who are critical of themselves aften worry about this - it's a sign of sincere, praiseworthy character.

It's difficult to see ourselves objectively. But, remember, no one has only faults or only merits. We all have a mixture of both. Therefore, we should  strive to develop and polish our positive attributes. As we do, our shortcomings will fade  until they are no longer apparent.

Perhaps you could ask someone who knows you well, a friend, parent or sibling, what strong points he or she thinks you have or can develop. I'm sure they'll name many admirable qualities. Also, if someone close to you points out your faults, rather than becoming offended or upset, it is to your benefit to listen calmly and objectively to what he or she has to say and make an effort to take it  as constructive criticism. Once you take your place in society, there won't be many people who will be so honest with you.

(Excerpted from The Way of Youth and reprinted with permission from Middleway Press.)

ANSWER: We have to have dreams, and we must have the capacity to make the dream a reality. When people told me in Ireland, “You can never do this,” I used to say, “Watch my smoke!” Don’t tell me I can’t do this, because I know that every single human being is capable of doing magnificent stuff, and there are no ordinary people. All people are extraordinary. God or Buddha or Allah or whatever we want to call that powerful force of love, powerful force of humanity and powerful force of goodness, made no ordinary people in the world. Everybody is different and extraordinary. Have you ever met an ordinary housewife? How many men here can multitask?

Not a lot. To each and every one of you, if you are not already involved in helping to change our world and make it a little bit better, from today make a solemn vow to yourself that you will become involved in changing the future that our world faces. Make that promise to yourself and remember that you are not ordinary. There is nobody in this room who has the same fingerprints. There is nobody in this room who has the same eyes. There is nobody in this room who has the same thought process. You are all absolutely individual. As Jody Williams, my coworker and fellow Peace Prize laureate says, “Violence is a choice; reject it no matter where it comes from.”

 

(Excerpted from Voices for a Culture of Peace Vol.1 and reprinted with permission from Culture of Peace Press.)

ANSWER: I know Augusto Boal was greatly influenced by Paulo Freire and used Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed to develop the Theatre of the Oppressed. I have had students who have taken theater workshops with Augusto Boal. I have not taken them with Boal. I believe, still, every year for a few months, he comes to the University of Oklahoma, but I know he has theater groups all over the world. We spoke together only on one occasion, the three of us, Augusto, myself and Paulo. Some people call Boal’s work guerilla theatre, but any way you name it, it’s a wonderful way of re-conceptualizing, reconfi guring human relationships in the guise of participatory theater, where people come up and assume roles and are open to the possibility of self and social transformation. Peter Sellars, not the comedian from the sixties and seventies, but Peter Sellars, the brilliant and innovative theater director, has done some marvelous work along the lines of Boal. He continues to be an inspiration for me. Peter Sellars is located here in Los Angeles. He is one of the great opera directors and theater directors of our time. I would like to be more closely connected to that in my own work. This is absolutely fundamental.

ANSWER: I imagine it's a little of both. And, of course, many studies have been conducted on this subject. Essentially, however, we are the architects of our own lives. More important is to know that we are the architects of the rest of our lives.

The word character derives from the Greek charakter. menaing to engrave or make an impression upon. From a scientific standpoint, personality and physical constitution may be determined to some extent by our genes. But knowing that alone won't change anything. What matters is what we do  to improve ourselves.

That is why what we do right now is so important.

Personality is also viewed a number of ways by psychologists. One view looks at personality in terms of concentric circles. At our core lies our most basic nature. Around that is the basic personality shaped during childhood by habit and custom. Surrounding that circle is the part we form to cope with various circumstances.

Though our core personality may remain unchanged, other aspects can sometimes change so much that people around us may comment that we seem like a completely different person. In any event, we have to be true to ourselves. We have to follow our path and do our best to contribute to society. Education equips us with what we need to do that.

(Excerpted from The Way of Youth and reprinted with permission from Middleway Press.)

ANSWER: This has become my major project now, partly because I am one of the old people, whom I prefer to call the elders, because it is an anthropological term that signifies experience and perhaps wisdom that comes with experience. I do have a chapter coming out in a book (in 2008). The book is titled Deliberation and the Work of Higher Education (Kettering Foundation, 2008). My chapter is called “From Youth Ghettos to Intergenerational Civic Engagement.” In my many years of teaching and community work, what I have discovered is the age segregation that is occurring. Ghetto is the word for it, and some of it is unintended. It is a passionate subject of mine. I will give you three examples. Parents, especially high school parents, are more invested in trying to help their kids and paying huge amounts of money to get them tutors for college and so on. Even in college now, my college and others have set up a division to deal with parents. It used to be that colleges didn’t want to have anything to do with parents. To an excess, they wouldn’t even give the grades or anything about the students, but The Chronicle of Higher Education did an article last year that said now colleges have helicopter parents. Any of you who have children who went to middle school from elementary school, the phrase helicopter parents described parents who, like helicopters, were hovering over the school. The reason for this was that now the kids were going to go to different classrooms, and they had anxiety about it. Helicopter parents have expanded to the high schools and even to the colleges. However, what my study and others have shown is that high school and college students almost never speak with their parents about matters of substance, about what is going on in the country and the world. We did our surveys with residential students, all of whom have cell phones. I still don’t have a cell phone, but someday I will. Almost all of them spoke to one parent every day, sometimes for a minute just to be in touch, sometimes for an hour or two, and in a way it is lovely that children keep in touch with the parents. When we asked them what they talked about, they almost never talked about what it means to be a citizen, what is happening in our country, what is happening in the world, where they read newspapers and so on. That’s been true for a lot of youth, because they are doing other things, so they aren’t engaged, so that’s part of the challenge of engagement. But what about their parents? Where are the parents modeling this stuff? There is a book called The Other Parent. It is already outmoded because it is about television. The point of The Other Parent is that with the husband and wife working, the more professional they are, the more exhausting it is. It’s easier to put the kids in front of a TV because the parents are exhausted. That book was very disturbing. Now, of course, we are way beyond TV. We are into MySpace and YouTube. The study showed in a disturbing fashion how many people have their own TVs, how many young people have computers where their parents aren’t monitoring it, not talking with them, and not even eating together. I don’t blame the parents so much, because they are experiencing what sociologists now call “time poverty.” Arlie Russell Hochschild referred to it as the “time bind.” How many things can you do? I think the cost is trying to get the kids to succeed but without paying attention to their character. I blame the grandparents. I always blame the grandparents. Hey, the parents are too busy; it is up to you—the elders—to model these kids. Grandparents have been doing more of it. Then, when the children go to college, of course, they are really in a youth ghetto. The only adults they encounter are their professors, and that is not reality for a lot of them. What we found in our study is that most colleges give students access to something like a hundred TV channels free. I can’t tell you how many hours that college students spend watching television. Where is the discipline to stop doing that? We are making efforts to bring people together. It is sad to say our best success has been in bringing very old people together with high school students and college students, primarily because old people are in fact more available to do it. People in their fifties, forties and thirties are so busy. The public library is one of the great public spaces in our society that has trouble attracting people in their thirties, forties and fifties. The last thing I want to say about that is that I have made efforts to bring together young people and the elders. I write about that. What happens is when I bring young people together, the elders outnumber them, because I bring a class of thirty and there are maybe seventy or a hundred or a hundred and fifty elders, and we have a discussion on current events and perspective. After it is over, I take the young people aside and ask for their responses. The responses go like this, “Wow! I never saw so many old people in one place.” That is the first response. Then they all sit separately. They don’t mingle. I let them do that at first so we can have a debriefing. Then they say: “Those old people know a lot, but they don’t have anything to do. It’s not as if they are going to school or working as we are. Later on, we will be able to know stuff. They do care, you know, but they have got a lot more time to do it.” Then they get shamed. I don’t shame them, but eventually they say, “Well, gee, maybe we should be doing some more of this.” I was asked a question earlier about whether students go through changes. This experience has literally transformed many young people, who say: “Wow, I think I better register to vote. I think I should become better informed, because there are people who are doing it and I am not being responsible.” Those are encouraging signs. (Excerpted from Voices for a Culture of Peace Vol. 1 and reprinted with permission from Culture of Peace Press.)  

ANSWER: Many people believe personality is determined by fate or heredity and there's nothing we can do about it. The fact is, almost everyone agonizes over some aspect of his or her personality. But you have to realize that just worrying about your problems won't change anything. When you become aware of your shortcomings, you are in a position to begin to control them and change your behavior. People's personalities are truly diverse. There is a vast vocabulary to describe personalities and character traits. The English language is said to have as many as eighteen thousand nouns and adjectives that describe character. No one's personality is flawless. We all, without exception, have qualities that render us less than perfect. Inevitably, you won't like aspects of your personality. But it is foolish to become obsessed by such things and succumb to feelings of self-hatred and unworthiness. You will only hinder your growth. Being introverted doesn't make someone incapable, just as being quick-tempered doesn't make a person useless. For example, a person's shyness can be transformed into valuable qualities such as prudence and discretion, while someone's impatience might be transformed into a knack for getting things done quickly and efficiently. We should live in a way that is true to ourselves. So even though our basic personality may be difficult to change, we can bring out its positive traits. Your personality is like a river. At certain points, the river's banks are pretty much fixed. In the same way, the identity of a person doesn't change much. But the quality of the water in the river can vary. It may be deep or shallow, polluted or clean, have lots of fish or none at all. While our river can't become a completely different kind of river, we can, through our hard work, purify it so that many kinds of fish will be happy to swim in it. Our personality doesn't determine our happiness or unhappiness. Rather it is the substance of our lives and how we've lived that decide our happiness. A river meanders but never stops. This is the natural way of things. Similarly, if you make continual efforts, your peronality will improve slowly , steadily. The key is to keep moving forward and never stop. All rivers, irrespective of their differences, flow unceasingly and unflaggingly to the sea. If we, too, continue to make persistent efforts, we will eventually reach the great ocean of happiness for ourselves and others. We will savor boundless freedom and realize our own potential as we celebrate and encourage others' individuality. The important thing is to do everything you possibly can. You'll be more surprised than anyone at how much you can achieve. You possess such unlimited potential! (Excerpted from The Way of Youth and reprinted with permission from Middleway Press.) 

ANSWER: We have 300 million people, a democratic system and, depending on definitions, probably around 5 percent of the population is politically engaged. Essentially 95 percent of the population sits back and complains. They say: "I do not care. I do not like the situation in Iraq, but I am not going to do anything. I am going to sit here and watch TV.” I worked in Washington, D.C., for four years. Congress responds to the people who are there lobbying them. Our eighteen- to twenty-five-year-olds, they do not vote, and they do not become involved politically. They have the capacity to reshape this country dramatically. Politics has become unattractive. People do not want to participate in it. People do not want to campaign. They do not want to force or bring up new issues. They sit back, and they are passively fed by television. We are a democracy. A democracy requires that we become engaged politically. It requires that we attend meetings, that we make that extra effort, that we send letters, that we do things. If we don’t, of course, nothing is going to change. 

 

 

 

You are right. Many, many people in this country disagree with the government on Iraq, on terrorism, on stem cell research, on Cuba, on all of these issues. Gay marriage, they disagree with the government’s position, but they don’t do anything. I think that one thing we have to do is get involved. That is the beauty of a democracy—we can say what we want; we can do what we want. 

 

 

Today there are some real signs of light. America’s youth are experimenting with information technology, and politics will respond to this. Everyone here can support Internet politics, join discussions, make donations, send email to our people in Congress. We are tired of war, we disagree with torture, we want alternative energy, we want to help alleviate poverty here and abroad, we want to expand the zone of dignity and peace. That is what our country is all about, and we should keep reminding our politicians of this. We are a long way from exhausting all the opportunities our democracy affords for progress and change, for doing what is right instead of what is easy.

 

 

(Excerpted from Voices for a Culture of Peace Vol.1 and reprinted with permission from Culture of Peace Press.)

ANSWER: You can run away, of course. That freedom exists. But it is a very small, petty freedom. It only leads to a life of great hardship, a life in which you will be powerless, weak and completely frustrated. 

Alongside this small freedom, however, exists a much greater freedom. The Japanese novelist Eiji Yoshikawa writes, "Great character is forged through hardship." Only by polishing yourself through repeated difficulties can you build a self that sparkles as brightly as a gem. When you have developed such a state of being, nothing will faze you. You will be free. You will be victorious. Hardships will even become enjoyable. Daring to take on tough challenges - that in itself is immense freedom. 

Freedom is relative. You may run away from hard work and effort, declaring yourself a free spirit, but you cannot run away from yourself - from your own weaknesses, personality and destiny. It is like trying to run from your own shadow. It is even more impossible to escape from the sufferings of aging, sickness and death inherent in the human condition. The more you try to avoid hardships, the more doggedly they pursue you, like so many relentless hounds chasing at your heels. That's why it's important that you turn and face your troubles head-on. It is impossible to have absolutely everything go your way all the time. In fact, if it weren't for the various obstacles life presents us with, we probably wouldn't appreciate what it is to be free.

The springtime of our youth is meant to be lived with our faces turned toward the sun. As a season of growth, youth is a time of both great joy and great suffering. It is filled with problems and worries of all kinds. But rather than run away from them, the key is to keep seeking the sun, to keep moving in the direction of the sunlight, to challenge the pain and agony that are a part of growing up. 

Never give in to defeat. For a seed to sprout, it must exert tremendous effort to break out of its hard outer covering. That sprout must then valiantly push its way up through a thick layer of soil to reach the blue sky above. The hardships you experience now will all contribute to your growth. Therefore, the important thing is to keep  pressing forward no matter how tough or painful the going may get. 

Youth is the time to develop a spirit of persistence. And those who keep striving for improvement remain youthful no matter what there age. Conversely, those who fail to do so, even if they are young in years, will be old and weak in spirit. 

Life is a battle to win ultimate and unlimited freedom. 

(Excerpted from The Way of Youth and reprinted with permission from Middleway Press.)

 

ANSWER: I will answer in a general way, because it is probably most meaningful that way. Let’s say there are two groups in the city. The city leadership has to be cognizant and aware that there are distinct group identity needs for a majority in control and a minority that has been subordinated. Through the delivery of urban services, through the governance of an urban system, those identity needs and aspirations have to be accommodated. In these cities of division, you cannot impose an assimilative model on all citizens where everyone will be treated the same. The majority in control has to think through a new lens of coexistent viability. It is important for this minority group to feel they are viable, respected and productive members of that urban society for the city and the society to blossom and to be healthy. Anything short of that or any messages that the minority feels that their identity is threatened or not respected is going to exacerbate the problem. It is not necessarily going to lead to violence, but it is certainly going to add to the social and psychological separation of those two groups in the city and then we are in a situation where we are getting into a downward slope. I answered your question generally, but there is a whole set of implications this has for how a majority city government would view a minority with respect and viability. Group identity is an important attribute to acknowledge in cities of multiple cultures; its preservation is connected to the UN Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace(#6): Advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity.

(Excerpted from Voices for a Culture of Peace Vol.1 and reprinted with permission from Culture of Peace Press.)

ANSWER: Yes, young people often fall into this habit. But I cannot say this too strongly: Do not allow yourself to compare yourself to others! Be true to who you are and continue to learn with all your might. Even if you are ridiculed, even if you suffer disappointments and setbacks, continue to advance and do not be defeated. When you muster this strong determination in your heart, you are already halfway to victory. Rather than comparing your every joy and sorrow to that of others, aim to surpass your limits in your current situation. Those who can accomplish this throughout life are the true victors, the true geniuses.When you hold fast to your beliefs and live true to yourself, your real value as a human being shines through.

(Excerpted from The Way of Youth and reprinted with permission from Middleway Press.)

ANSWER: "As I keep saying, the critical mass is the individual. It is the most important thing. Peace within can only bring peace outside. That is very relevent. Empower yourself first with the message of peace that you believe. When you are empowered like that, you will never feel disappointed, you will never feel discouraged. But you have a point because I believe that the most important thing cannot be simply stated that  the critical mass is the important part.

I have seen that many people have started on an individual basis in a very low-key way. These days, in this technological age, you can share many things without individually reaching out. The computers are there, the Internet is there. You can not only read, you can share, you can develop many things without the physical connection that we needed in earlier days. The physical connection, however, I never undervalue, because that has its own significance.

It is valuable to start at the low-key level, if you feel there are no people with you. I can tell you that, very soon, you will find many, because in each of us that human quest for peace is there. It is manifested in a different way in each individual. You have to strike the right chord to persuade a person to join you in your endeavor for peace. I think that is very natural, but start by talking with  your colleagues, talking with your friends, talking with your family members. I think that is the best way to start. I have seen that. If I can get one additional fellow traveler with me, I believe I have contributed in a big way. That is what we need to do. With that simple thinking, you will get results that you could never dream of.

Don't get discouraged. Keep focused. Start with the people you can reach out to first, and then you will find that needed critical mass growing."

(Excerpted from Voices for a Culture of Peace Vol.1 and reprinted with permission from Culture of Peace Press.)

 

ANSWER: "First, please understand, life is long! The way things are now will not last forever. Even if you have problems, even if you have made mistakes or have done things you regret, your whole future still lies ahead of you. Don't worry endlessly over every obstacle or problem. Above all, do not despair or be defeated by your impatience.

Nothing is hopeless. The worst mistake you can make when young is to give up on a dream, to not challenge yourself for fear of failure. The past is the past and the future is the future. Keep moving forward with a steady eye on what is ahead, telling yourself: "I'll start from today!" "I'll start fresh from this moment!"

Happiness in life does not depend on how well things go in your youth. No matter how many mistakes you make, you always have another chance. Be ambitious and keep striving toward the future. If you're not happy with your achievements in high school, then give it your all in college. If that's not to your satisfaction, there's still hope after graduation as you challenge yourself as an active member of society. True success in life does not reveal itself until we reach our forties or fifties. If you experience setbacks along the way, continue with a fighting spirit into your forties, fifties, sixties and seventies.

My experience after more than seventy years of life has taught me to clearly recognize the human patterns that determine victory or defeat.

Many of the most famous people in our history appeared far from outstanding in their youth. Winston Churchill was well known for his many failures at school. Mahatma Gandhi wasn't a remarkable student, either; he was shy, timid and a poor speaker.

So don't be too hard on yourself. You are still young - a work in progress and still developing. To be growing and improving are wonderful things. Just continue to press on tenaciously to find your way forward despite the suffering and pain that are a part of youth and growing up. Indeed, that's the only way to grow.

It is important not to lose hope. Losing hope is, in a way, like living in  a winter of the spirit The English Romantic poet Shelley said, "If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" No matter how long and bitter the winter may be, spring always follows. This is the law of the universe, the law of life.

The same applies to us. If we seem to be weathering an endless winter, we musn't abandon hope. As long as we have hope, spring is near. It will come without fail.

Spring is a time of blossoming. Every person has a singular mission, his or her individuality and way of living. It's important to recognize that truth and respect it. That is the natural order of things. That is how it works in the world of flowers - and in the world of human beings, different kinds of flowers bloom harmoniously in beautiful profusion."

(Excerpted from The Way of Youth and reprinted with permission from Middleway Press.)