For the December 2018 CommUNITY Program, we read quotes from various religions and secular sources highlighting the theme of family unity. Here are those quotes for your own reflection.
“Our world and our lives have become increasingly interdependent, so when our neighbor is harmed, it affects us too. Therefore we have to abandon outdated notions of ‘them’ and ‘us’ and think of our world much more in terms of a great ‘US,’ a greater human family.”
– Dali Lama
“When will we learn, when will the people of the world get up and say, ‘Enough is enough.’ God created us for fellowship. God created us so that we should form the human family, existing together because we were made for one another. We are not made for an exclusive self-sufficiency but for interdependence, and we break the law of our being at our peril.”
– Desmond Tutu
“The diversity in the human family should be the cause of love and harmony, as it is in music where many different notes blend together in the making of a perfect chord.”
– ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Baha’i Faith)
“Love is a choice—not simply, or necessarily, a rational choice, but rather a willingness to be present to others without pretense or guide. Love is a conversion to humanity—a willingness to participate with others in the healing of a broken world and broken lives. Love is the choice to experience life as a member of the human family, a partner in the dance of life.”
– Carter Heyward
“God did not create a human family made up of segregated, dissociated, mutually independent members. No; he would have them all united by the bond of total love of Him and consequent self-dedication to assisting each other to maintain that bond intact.”
– Pope Pius XII
“All mankind are creatures and servants of the one God. The surface of the earth is one home; humanity is one family and household. Distinctions and boundaries are artificial, human. Why should there be discord and strife among men? All must become united and coordinated in service to the world of humanity.”
– ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Baha’i Faith)
“The golden way is to be friends with the world and to regard the whole human family as one.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
“The problem… is that we don’t believe we are as much alike as we are. Whites, blacks, Catholics and Protestants, men and women. If we saw each other as more alike, we might be very eager to join in one big human family in this world, and to care about that family the way we care about our own. But believe me, when you are dying, you see it is true. We all have the same beginning – birth- and we all have the same end – death. So how different can we be? Invest in the human family. Invest in people.”
– Mitch Albom
“As we enter the 21st Century it is clear that we have entered an unprecedented global age in which our diverse cultures, religions, philosophies, worldviews and perspectives encounter one another in the market place of our global village. It is now clear that our future sustainability on this planet calls for radical advances in our rational and human capacities to negotiate the powerful forces between worlds, as the human family moves towards a sustainable global civilization.”
– Ashok Gangadean
“Every imperfect soul is self-centered and thinketh only of his own good. But as his thoughts expand a little he will begin to think of the welfare and comfort of his family. If his ideas still more widen, his concern will be the felicity of his fellow citizens; and if still they widen, he will be thinking of the glory of his land and of his race. But when ideas and views reach the utmost degree of expansion and attain the stage of perfection, then will he be interested in the exaltation of humankind. He will then be the well-wisher of all men and the seeker of the weal and prosperity of all lands. This is indicative of perfection.”
– ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Baha’i Faith)
“I think it needs to be with a heart-based wisdom and this heart-based wisdom needs to go hand in hand with science and with social activism and love for our planet and love for our whole human family that spans the whole globe and this may sound very high and mighty or airy-fairy, but it’s going to have to go to that or else we’re just all going to destroy each other.”
– Rainn Wilson
“World Refugee Day is reminder that there is no ‘us’ land ‘them’. There is only us, one human family, connected in ways we sometimes forget.”
– Ann Curry
“The universe is my country and the human family is my tribe.”
– Khalil Gibran
“Whether we like it or not, we have all been born into this world as part of one greater human family. Rich or poor, educated or uneducated, belonging to one nation or another, to one religion or another, adhering to this ideology or that, ultimately each of us is just a human being like everyone else. We all desire happiness and do not want suffering.”
– Dali Lama
“Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship. He Who is the Daystar of Truth beareth Me witness! So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.”
– Baha’u’llah (Baha’i Faith)
“In a world like this, media can help us to feel closer to one another, creating a sense of unity of the human family which can in turn inspire solidarity and serious efforts to ensure a more dignified life for all.”
– Pope Francis
“Each time a person passes by you and you say ‘hello’, imagine that person turning into a candle. The more positivity, love and light you reflect, the more light is mirrored your way…..You should start seeing hellos as small declarations of faith. Every time you say hello to a stranger, your heart acknowledges over and over again that we are all family.”
– Suzy Kassem, “Rise Up and Salute the Sun”
“Global citizenship means simply being willing to focus on the game, to notice the world and the people in it. It does not mean noticing your world but THE world. It means being conscious of the fact that you, and your country, are not the center of God’s universe. It is the recognition that the world is made up of people with similar needs, desires, responsibilities, and dreams. It is the willingness to connect to people all over the world, realizing that the choices you make each day affect them and their decisions affect you. It is noticing that the world is your family.”
– Holly Sprink, Faith Postures
“The more we can be in a relationship with those who might seem strange to us, the more we can feel like we’re neighbors and all members of the human family.”
– Fred Rogers
“Govern a family as you would cook a small fish – very gently.”
– Chinese Proverb
“What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.”
– Mother Teresa
“Compare the nations of the world to the members of a family. A family is a nation in miniature. Simply enlarge the circle of the household, and you have the nation. Enlarge the circle of nations, and you have all humanity… Consider the harmful effect of discord and dissension in a family; then reflect upon the favors and blessings which descend upon that family when unity exists among its various members.”
– ‘Abdul-Baha (Baha’i Faith)
“The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.”
– Benjamin Franklin
“In the past, destruction of your neighbor might have been considered a victory, but today we are all interdependent. We live in a global economy, we face the problems like climate change that affects us all. The 7 billion human beings alive today belong to one human family. In the context that others’ interests are in our interest and our interest is in their interest, the use of force is self-destructive.”
– Dali Lama
“Strangers are just family you have yet to come to know.”
– Mitch Albom
“The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another’s desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.”
– Erma Bombeck
“The Family – that dear octopus from whose tentacles we never quite escape, nor, in our inmost hearts, ever quite wish to.”
– Dodie Smith
“The great gift of family life is to be intimately acquainted with people you might never even introduce yourself to, had life not done it for you.”
– Kendall Hailey
“In time of test, family is best.”
– Burmese Proverb
“Family is just accident… They don’t mean to get on your nerves. They don’t even mean to be your family, they just are.”
– Marsha Norman
“The only rock I know that stays steady, the only institution I know that works is the family.”
– Lee Iacocca
“Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs. The ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.”
– Unknown
“Having somewhere to go is home. Having someone to love it family. Having both is a blessing.”
– Unknown
“That indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. The Great Being sayeth: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth… It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.”
– Baha’u’llah (Baha’i Faith)
“A house is built by hands, but a home is built by heart.”
– Unknown
“The family is one of nature’s masterpieces.”
– George Santayana
“To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.”
– Confucius
“At a fundamental level, as human beings, we are all the same; each one of us aspires to happiness and each one of us does not wish to suffer. This is why, whenever I have the opportunity, I try to draw people’s attention to what as members of the human family we have in common and the deeply interconnected nature of our existence and welfare.”
– Dali Lama
“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”
– Chief Seattle
“If love and agreement are manifest in a single family, that family will advance, become illumined and spiritual; but if enmity and hatred exist within it, destruction and dispersion are inevitable. This is, likewise, true of a city. If those who dwell within it manifest a spirit of accord and fellowship, it will progress steadily and human conditions become brighter, whereas through enmity and strife it will be degraded and its inhabitants scattered. In the same way, the people of a nation develop and advance towards civilization and enlightenment through love and accord and are disintegrated by war and strife. Finally, this is true of humanity itself… When love is realized and the ideal spiritual bonds unite the hearts of men, the whole human race will be uplifted, the world will continually grow more spiritual and radiant and the happiness and tranquility of mankind be immeasurably increased… and universal peace unite the nations and peoples of the world. What incalculable benefits and blessings would descend upon the great human family if unity and brotherhood were established!”
– ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Baha’i Faith)
