"Let me tell you a little story. A long time ago in India, there was a great emperor called Akbar. He had a friend, a courtier named Birbal. One day, Akbar challenged his friend. He drew a line and said, “Make this line smaller without touching it.” Birbal grabbed the pen and drew a bigger line, and the emperor’s line automatically became smaller.

Yes, there is fanaticism; yes there is cruelty. If we want to make them insignificant, the only way is to make the voice for peace much, much greater. Today, people are not reasonable; they see violence as a viable alternative. The problem is that it’s on both sides. And when it is violence answering violence, it will only become more violent. Our only hope, I feel, is to have the voice of peace greater than the voice of violence."

~ Prem Rawat, on a visit to Mazara del Vallo, Sicily, February 5, 2009 ~http://www.wopg.org/