Universality Is the Way of Peace, Compassion, and Community

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Universality Is the Way of Peace, Compassion, & Community

Ego will help you to recognize, remove, and replace your ego: a.k.a. self-esteem.

“Men’s natures are alike, it is their habits that carry them far apart.” —Confucius

“Every man is every man and every woman is every woman.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

Quotations are organized alphabetically by topic.
All of the quotations on this page and more organized alphabetically: One Human Nature.

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UNIVERSALITY & ONE HUMAN NATURE

One of the most important principles for all time is universality.
Universality is the understanding that there is only one human nature.
Human nature is universal, is the same for all humans, making us all equal.
Find the Unity of Human Nature in yourself to begin walking the spiritual path.

“1st Sutra: Recognize that the Other Person is You.” —Yogi Bhajan, Master of Kundalini Yoga

“Accept all humans as your equals and let them be your only sect (class).” —Guru Nanak

“All men are my children.” —Ashoka

“All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others.” —Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“And deeply believe that all living beings have the same real essential nature.” —Bodhidharma

“And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;” —Acts 17:26

“As for everyone with the four senses, their nature is one. That they are different in the way they use their minds is brought about by education.” —Confucius

“Consider others as yourself.” —The Dhammapada, 10:1

“Every human being is superficially different but, what is for sure, we are all equal in our essence.” —Serge Benhayon

“Every man is every man and every woman is every woman.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?” —I Corinthians 4:7

“I am a man; and, nothing in man’s lot do I deem foreign to me.” —Seneca

“I live you.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“In Lak’ech (you are my other me)” —Mayan proverb

“In this citizenship of the universe consists man’s true freedom, and his liberation from the thralldom of narrow hopes and fears.” —Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy

“Men’s natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them.” —Confucius

“Now as to a branch, another cuts it off, but a man by his own act separates himself from his neighbor when he hates him and turns away from him, and does not know that he has at the same time cut himself off from the whole social system” — Marcus Aurelius

“Self-knowledge comes from knowing other men.” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“The many factors which divide us are actually much more superficial than those we share. Despite all of the things that differentiate us – race, language, religion, gender, wealth and so on – we are all equal concerning our fundamental humanity.” —Dalai Lama

“There is only one race—the human race.” —Dennis Prager

“Things which are equal to the same thing are equal to each other.” —Euclid

“To look at myself, I can see myself as a whole only when I am actually the rest of mankind.” —J. Krishnamurti, Can Humanity Change? p. 93

“To train in compassion, then, is to know all beings are the same and suffer in similar ways, to honor all those who suffer, and to know you are neither separate from nor superior to anyone.” —Sogyal Rinpoche, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

“Understand other people as yourself.” —Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (54), translated by VJ Henry

“We are each other. To think otherwise is a case of mistaken identity.” —Noah benShea, Jacob the Baker

“When a person responds to the joys and sorrows of others as if they were his own, he has attained the highest state of spiritual union.” —Bhagavad Gita, 6:32

“Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.” —Ephesians 4:25

“Whether people be of high or low birth, rich or poor, old or young, enlightened or confused, they are all alike in that they will one day die.” ―Tsunetomo Yamamoto, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

“Without reference to any strands of lineage, without reference to texts or traditions, we drink the life-water together.” —Rumi

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UNIVERSALITY & FORGIVENESS

Without the principle of universality, there is no real forgiveness.

“Does anyone do wrong: It is to himself that he does the wrong.” —Marcus Aurelius

“Just as I am so are they, just as they are so am I.” —Sutta Nipata, the fifth book of the Khuddaka Nikaya, Pali Buddhist Scriptures

“The more we know, the better we forgive; Whoe’er feels deeply, feels for all who live.” —Madame de Stael

“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” —Leviticus 19:18

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” —Declaration of Independence, United States of America, July 4, 1776

“Whatever anyone has done—I have done.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

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UNIVERSALITY & GENOCIDE

Without the principle of universality, there is no chance to end racism, ethnic hatred, and genocide.

“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” —Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1, United Nations, December 10, 1948

“All people are equal, it is not birth, it is virtue alone that makes the difference.” —Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet),1694-1778, French writer and philosopher

“And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.” —Acts 10:28

“I am not born for one corner; the whole world is my native land.” —Seneca

“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.” —James Baldwin

“No one is born hating another person because of the color or his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” —Nelson Mandela

“One who you think should be hit is none else but you. One who you think should be governed is none else but you. One who you think should be tortured is none else but you. One who you think should be enslaved is none else but you. One who you think should be killed is none else but you. A sage is ingennous and leads his life after comprehending the parity of the killed and the killer. Therefore, neither does he cause violence to others nor does he make others do so.” —Jainism, Acarangasutra 5:101-2

“Our true nationality is mankind.” —H.G. Wells

“Read a novel or watch a movie without relating to every character as another expression of your self, and you are devoid of understanding.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Recognize the whole human race as one.” —Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji

“The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that is wrong with the world.” —Paul Farmer

“There are those who would quickly love each other if once they were to speak to each other; for when they spoke they would discover that their souls were only separated by phantoms and delusions.” —Ernest Hello, 19th Century French Philosopher

“Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned, everywhere is war and until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation, until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes. And until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race, there is war. And until that day, the dream of lasting peace, world citizenship, rule of international morality, will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued, but never attained…now everywhere is war.” —Haile Selassie I

“What is right for one man is right for another.” —John Stuart Mill

“When we go to war, we dehumanize the people against whom we are fighting and convince ourselves that they are not equal to us.” —Jimmy Carter

“Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though he had destroyed the entire world; and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world.” —The Talmud, Mishna. Sanhedrin

“You are another me, if I do harm to you, I harm myself. If I love and respect you, I love and respect myself.” —Mayan poem

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UNIVERSALITY & PRIDE

Universality and pride cannot coexist.

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” —Albert Einstein

“All beings wish for happiness, so extend your compassion to everyone.” —Mahavamsa

“All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One.” —Black Elk, Native American

“Before God we are all equally wise–and equally foolish.” —Albert Einstein

“Behind the storm of daily conflict and crisis, the dramatic confrontations, the tumult of political struggle, the poet, the artist, the musician, continues the quiet work of centuries, building bridges of experience between peoples, reminding man of the universality of his feelings and desires and despairs, and reminding him that the forces that unite are deeper than those that divide.” —John F. Kennedy, American President

“Do that to no man which thou hatest: drink not wine to make thee drunken: neither let drunkenness go with thee in thy journey.” —Tobit 4:15

“Each one of us is the representative of all mankind.” —J. Krishnamurti, Can Humanity Change? p. 135

“Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” —Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, from The Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863

“Freedom from the kind of pride that could make a man feel better than his brother.” —Duke Ellington

“Goodwill towards all is true religion.” —Buddhacarita

“I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.” —I Timothy 5:21

“Since you are searching for understanding of self, don’t ask about caste or class, riches or birth, but instead ask about heart and conduct. Look at the flames from a fire. Where does the brightness arise? From the nature of the wood–and it doesn’t matter what kind of wood. In the same way the bright heart of wisdom can shine from wood of every sort. It is through virtuous conduct, through loving-kindness and compassion, and through understanding of truth that one becomes noble.” —Buddha

“So one can say, not as a verbal statement but as a fact, that we human beings are alike. And so, deeply, you are me.” —J. Krishnamurti, Can Humanity Change? p. 129

“The ability to grasp and fully assimilate the philosophy of parity into one’s modus vivendi is not easy. For one thing, prestige merchants and status-seekers are ubiquitous, and it is easy to fall into their traps. For another, everyone in our Western civilization has been socialized in terms of a vertical scale of accomplishment tied into the inferiority-superiority dichotomy. Thus, I have encountered more resistance in promulgating the parity philosophy than in any other venture to date.” —Arnold A. Lazarus, The Practice of Multimodal Therapy, p. 12

“There but for the grace of God go I.” —Alcoholics Anonymous

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man.” —Ernest Hemingway

“Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” —Romans 5:18

“You have a separate name and a bank account, but your consciousness is like that of everyone else.” —J. Krishnamurti, Can Humanity Change? page 131-132

Read for the world’s best understanding of human nature.

UNIVERSALITY & SELF-ESTEEM

The greatest enemy of the principle of universality is the thinking style known as self-esteem.

“As men, we are all equal in the presence of death.” —Publilius Syrus, Maxim 1, First Century B.C.

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” —James 3:17

“Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:” —Romans 3:22

“Our constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil-rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful.” —John Marshall Harlan, U.S. Supreme Court, 1955-1971

“The wise man’s eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: and I myself perceived also that one event happeneth to them all.” —Ecclesiastes 2:14

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” —1 Corinthians 10:13

“Tom and his younger brothers as they grew up, went on playing with the village boys without the idea of equality or inequality (except in wrestling, running, and climbing) ever entering their heads, as it doesn’t until it’s put there by Jack Nastys or fine ladies’ maids.” —Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown’s Schooldays, chapter 3

“We must remember that one man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school.” —Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War

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UNIVERSALITY & EGO

The principle opposite to universality is ego. Ego is always about exclusivity. Ego is always about people as superior and inferior.

“All men believe that justice means equality.” —Aristotle, Politics

“And from him I received the idea of polity in which there is the same law for all, a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech.” —Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

“By law a man is free and another a slave. But by nature there is no difference between them. That’s why such a relationship is not just, but, rather, violent.” —Aristotle, Politics

“Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects; because men are equally free, they claim to be absolutely equal.” —Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

“Entry by principle is when you realize the source by way of the teachings and deeply believe that all human beings have the same real essential nature.” —Bodhidharma

“In reading about and studying the doctrines, you should turn all words right around and apply them to yourself.” —Pai Chang Hui Hai, 8th Century Ch’an (Zen) Master

“Our laws secure equal justice for all.” —Thucydides, Greek Historian, 460? to 400? B.C.

“There have only ever been two men: Adam and the resurrected Christ. So stop comparing and lying that you are different or better.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“To know a man well were to know himself.” —William Shakespeare, Hamlet

“What the judge does is to restore equality.” —Aristotle, Ethics

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UNIVERSALITY & EMPATHY

Without the principle of universality, there is no rich empathy but only poor sympathy.

“All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really one.” —Black Elk

“And it is impossible to treat human beings as human beings if you label them, if you term them, if you give them a name as Hindus, Russians, or what you will. It is so much easier to label people, for then you can pass by and kick them, drop a bomb on India or Japan.” —J. Krishnamurti, The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, Volume V, p. 66

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (not as someone else).” —Matthew 22:39

“Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.” —the 12th Tradition of Alcoholics Anonymous’s 12 Traditions

“Every man is equally entitled to protection by law.” —Andrew Jackson, 7th President of the United States

“For me the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It lets you understand hopes, aspirations, dreams, and fears. It helps us to identify with the people who are sharing this journey with us.” —Roger Ebert

“Great Spirit, grant that I may not criticize my brother until I have walked a mile in his moccasins.” —Iroquois, Native Americans

“I believe in one God and no more, and I hope for happiness beyond this life. I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow creatures happy.” —Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason

“I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.” —Booker Taliaferro Washington, 1856-1915

“If you cannot relate to what another human being thinks, feels, or does–it can only mean that you are inhuman.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“Is it not the nature of stupidity to be exclusive? The more one is stupid, the more one is exclusive, religiously or socially; and each exclusiveness creates its own problems.” —J. Krishnamurti, The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, Volume V, p. 334

“Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

“One does not hate so long as one continues to rate low, but only when one has come to rate equal or higher.” —Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil

“Only that which is religious can with the assistance of eternity press the equality of men through to its ultimate conclusions: the reverent, genuine, unworldly, true, the only possible equality between men. And therefore that which is religious may it be said to its glorification, is also the true humanity.” —Søren Kierkegaard

“Saying, ‘I would not have done that,’ is like a carpenter’s nail, manufactured the same as another carpenter’s nail, saying, ‘I would not have bent the way that nail did.'” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“The bodhisattva loves all beings as if each were his only child.” —Vimalakirtinirdesha Sutra, 5

“The divine equality that raises the soul to what is perfect and makes the eyes of sense bind to the differences.” —Søren Kierkegaard

“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” —Acts 10:34-35

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” —Galatians 3:28

“To know others you do not have to go and knock on four billion separate doors. Once you have seen your real Self, you have seen the Self in all.” —Eknath Easwaran, spiritual teacher

“What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;” —Romans 3:9

“Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” —Colossians 3:11

“Why did they do that? With their experience, that’s what I do.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“You may be the result of certain tendencies, of environmental influences, but you are not different fundamentally from another.” —J. Krishnamurti, The Collected Works of J. Krishnamurti, Vol. IV, p. 1

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UNIVERSALITY & RELATIONSHIPS

The goal of universality is the nonhierarchical relating of persons.

“A wise man’s country is the world.” —Aristippus

“As emperor, Rome is my city and my country; but as a human being I belong to the world.” —Marcus Aurelius

“Death and sleep make us all alike, rich and poor, high and low.” —Cervantes, 1547-1616, Don Quixote

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” —Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)

“For there is no respect of persons with God.” —Romans 2:11 “Friendship is equality.” —Aristotle, Ethics

“Great and small suffer the same mishaps.” —Blaise Pascal “I am a citizen of the world.” —Demosthenes

“I mean a warm regard for him as a person of unconditional self-worth–of value no matter what his condition, behavior, or his feelings.” —Carl Rogers, On Becoming A Person

“If I relegate impossible Salvation to the prop room, what remains? A whole man, composed of all men and as good as all of them and no better than any.” —Jean-Paul Sartre, 1905-1980

“If you cannot relate to what another feels, thinks, or does–it can only mean that you are inhuman.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“If you fully–and we mean fully–accept your humanity and your fallibility, and if you give up trying to be holier-than-thou, you will have real difficulty making yourself seriously upset about anything.” —Albert Ellis and Robert A. Harper, A Guide to Rational Living, Third Edition, p. 122

“In our work we need to use both mind and soul, and I know–it is not just a belief–that every human being has a spark of God within. Therefore, every person’s dignity is worthy of overcoming anything.” —Sandra Sanchez

“Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, cultivate a boundless heart towards all beings. Let your thoughts of boundless love pervade the whole world.” —Suti Nipata, 149-150

“Man is never merely a means to an end, but always an end unto himself.” —Immanuel Kant, German philosopher, 1724-1804

“Never ask from another that which you are not willing to give.” —Apache law

“No one is now, has been, or ever will be more or less of a human being than any other human being.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“One does not get to know that one exists until one rediscovers oneself in others.” —Goethe, 1749-1832

“Self-esteem steals souls.” —Kevin Everett FitzMaurice

“So too a man when he is separated from another man has fallen off from the whole social community.” —Marcus Aurelius

“The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.” —Paul Tillich, 1886-1965

“The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form.” —Shinto saying

“The love of democracy is that of equality.” —Charles de Montesquieu, 1689-1755

“The true virtue of human beings is fitness to live together as equals.” —John Stuart Mill, 1806-1973

“There is One mind, and … all the powers and privileges which lie in any, lie in all.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882

“We are all children of one and the same God and, therefore, absolutely equal.” —Mohandas K. Gandhi, 1869-1948

“We meet ourselves time and again in a thousand disguises on the path of life.” —Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)

“What one is, why may not millions be?” —William Wordsworth, 1770-1850

“Whatever evil you see in others is the evil in yourself that you are afraid to face.” —ancient spiritual teaching

Read for the world’s best understanding of human nature.

Practice Exercise for Shared Human Nature

Take this exercise to heart, and it will change your life for the good.
Starting right now, whenever you hear anything said about any human being—understand that it is being said about you.
You are that human being.
For example, when you watch Internet videos, believe that you are every person that is being talked about because you are—it is your human nature that is being talked about.

Read to understand how triality changes everything.

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Quotations: Universality—We Share One Nature