"Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule"
About this Quote
Buddha’s line isn’t a scented candle slogan; it’s a strategic claim about how conflict actually reproduces itself. “Hatred does not cease by hatred” reads like a hard-eyed diagnosis: retaliation feels morally clarifying in the moment, but it functions as fuel. The sentence is built on negation first, then a single narrow alternative - “but only by love” - which makes it less an uplift and more an ultimatum. If you want an endpoint, you don’t get to pick any tool you like.
The subtext is even sharper. “Love” here isn’t romance or sentiment; it’s a disciplined refusal to keep the cycle going. In Buddhist ethics it aligns with metta (loving-kindness) and non-ill will: a trained posture of mind that interrupts the craving-for-victory that turns grievances into identity. That’s why the line lands with authority rather than persuasion. It doesn’t flatter the listener’s anger as righteous; it treats anger as a predictable mechanism.
Calling it “the eternal rule” does rhetorical heavy lifting. Buddha isn’t arguing from tradition, national loyalty, or divine decree. He’s claiming a law of cause and effect: certain actions reliably generate certain results, inwardly and socially. In the Buddha’s historical setting - a world of rival kingdoms, status competition, and ritualized hierarchies - the move is radical. It relocates power from the battlefield to the mind, from winning to ending. The consequence is bracing: peace is not granted by your opponent; it’s manufactured by your restraint.
The subtext is even sharper. “Love” here isn’t romance or sentiment; it’s a disciplined refusal to keep the cycle going. In Buddhist ethics it aligns with metta (loving-kindness) and non-ill will: a trained posture of mind that interrupts the craving-for-victory that turns grievances into identity. That’s why the line lands with authority rather than persuasion. It doesn’t flatter the listener’s anger as righteous; it treats anger as a predictable mechanism.
Calling it “the eternal rule” does rhetorical heavy lifting. Buddha isn’t arguing from tradition, national loyalty, or divine decree. He’s claiming a law of cause and effect: certain actions reliably generate certain results, inwardly and socially. In the Buddha’s historical setting - a world of rival kingdoms, status competition, and ritualized hierarchies - the move is radical. It relocates power from the battlefield to the mind, from winning to ending. The consequence is bracing: peace is not granted by your opponent; it’s manufactured by your restraint.
Quote Details
| Topic | Peace |
|---|---|
| Source | Dhammapada, verse 5 (Pali Canon). Standard translations render: "Hatred is never appeased by hatred... By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is an eternal law." |
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