Peace is no absence of war

Peace is no absence of war – a famous saying by Albert Einstein that many of us might have already heard as it has been re-quoted by many. But do any of us ever truly wonder what this saying actually means and how it applies to our everyday life?

Let‘s begin with a definition of peace. According to the dictionary peace is ‘a freedom from war and violence, especially when people live and work together happily without disagreements’. Claes Nobel, grand nephew of Alfred Nobel, said that peace is the way we choose to act on a daily basis towards ourselves, our fellow human beings and our planet. Over the centuries, many writers, thinkers and leaders have affirmed in some way or other that peace is not just the goal, it is the way to the goal.

There is a ‘popular’ thought that absence of war is peace but actually that’s not true and in my opinion it’s kind of myopic and defective. I am going to try to explain that. It is analogical to thinking that absence of sickness is health. Health is a positive state of complete physical and mental well-being and not only the absence of disease. Just like peace is a positive state where exists social justice and nobody feels any pressure towards others.