Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by John Hume

Quote by John Hume

“Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace: respect for diversity.”

Quote by John Hume

Author

John Hume
John Hume

John Hume, a renowned Irish politician born on January 18, 1937, is best known for his pivotal role in the Northern Ireland peace process. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 for his efforts to promote peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. Hume has been a key figure in the Democratic Unionist Party and has been instrumental in facilitating dialogue with various political and paramilitary groups in the region. more

You May Also Like

“The American ideal is not that we all agree with each other, or even like each other, every minute of the day. It is rather that we will respect each other's rights, especially the right to be different, and that, at the end of the day, we will understand that we are one people, one country, and one community, and that our well-being is inextricably bound up with the well-being of each and every one of our fellow citizens.”

“We want harmonious development, ... We should work together for more democratic and law-based international relations, and a harmonious environment in which countries respect one another, treat one another as equals, and different cultures can emulate and interchange with each other.”

“I resolutely believe that respect for diversity is a fundamental pillar in the eradication of racism, xenophobia and intolerance. There is no excuse for evading the responsibility of finding the most suitable path toward the elimination of any expression of discrimination against indigenous peoples.”

“Today it is considered as exaggeration to proclaim constant respect for every form of life as being the serious demand of a rational ethic. But the time is coming when people will be amazed that the human race existed so long before it recognized that thoughtless injury to life is incompatible with real ethics. Ethics is in its unqualified form extended responsibility to everything that has life.”