77 Quotes About Handling Conflict

Conflict is an inevitable part of life, whether in personal relationships, workplaces, or even within oneself. Handling conflict effectively can lead to personal growth, stronger relationships, and innovative solutions to problems. However, navigating these turbulent waters requires insight, patience, and empathy. To help guide you through these challenging situations, we've curated a collection of the top 77 quotes about handling conflict. These wise words from thinkers, leaders, and everyday individuals offer diverse perspectives and practical wisdom to empower you in facing conflicts with grace and confidence. Let these quotes inspire you to transform adversarial moments into opportunities for understanding and progress.

1. “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” - Mahatma Gandhi

2. “First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. And then they attack you and want to burn you. And then they build monuments to you.” - Nicholas Klein

3. “Do not think of knocking out another person's brains because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself ten years ago.” - Horace Mann

4. “I feel very privileged to hear how somebody used to run around stickin' people up and stealing cars, and now they're gettin' their life back together... I just love the stories. The stories of the fallen world, they excite us. That's the interesting stuff.” - Denis Johnson

5. “To live is to war with trolls.” - Henrik Ibsen

6. “Unless one lives and loves in the trenches, it is difficult to remember that the war against dehumanization is ceaseless.” - Audre Lorde

7. “A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle between the future and the past.” - Fidel Castro

8. “Ideas and not battles mark the forward progress of mankind.” - L. Ron Hubbard

9. “All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal.” - John Steinbeck

10. “I was hell-bent on being an effective humanitarian in Cambodia and Somalia. But a naïve fog is finally lifting. Revealed is a train wreck of illusions, the depravity of someone else's war, the futility of a competence stillborn there. To understand this you have to become this.” - Kenneth Cain

11. “Note, to-day, an instructive, curious spectacle and conflict. Science, (twin, in its fields, of Democracy in its)—Science, testing absolutely all thoughts, all works, has already burst well upon the world—a sun, mounting, most illuminating, most glorious—surely never again to set. But against it, deeply entrench'd, holding possession, yet remains, (not only through the churches and schools, but by imaginative literature, and unregenerate poetry,) the fossil theology of the mythic-materialistic, superstitious, untaught and credulous, fable-loving, primitive ages of humanity.” - Walt Whitman

12. “Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of creative alternatives for responding to conflict -- alternatives to passive or aggressive responses, alternatives to violence.” - Dorothy Thompson

13. “Happiness is a garden walled with glass: there's no way in or out. In Paradise there are no stories, because there are no journeys. It's loss and regret and misery and yearning that drive the story forward, along its twisted road.” - Margaret Atwood

14. “The symbolism of meat-eating is never neutral. To himself, the meat-eater seems to be eating life. To the vegetarian, he seems to be eating death. There is a kind of gestalt-shift between the two positions which makes it hard to change, and hard to raise questions on the matter at all without becoming embattled.” - Mary Midgley

15. “Katy was neither a Methodist nor a Masochist. She was a goddess and the silence of goddesses is genuinely golden. None of your superficial plating. A solid, twenty-two-carat silence all the way through. The Olympian's trap is kept shut, not by an act of willed discretion, but because there's really nothing to say. Goddesses are all of one piece. There's no internal conflict in them. Whereas the lives of people like you and me are one long argument. Desires on one side, woodpeckers on the other. Never a moment of real silence.” - Aldous Huxley

16. “Enmeshed in collective hatred and anger, each side proclaims the crimes of the other and its own righteousness, is unable to listen to the others suffering, and cannot look at the deeper roots of the conflict and how we often need our enemies in order to maintain our rigid identities. (p. 53)” - Donald Rothberg

17. “When introverts are in conflict with each other...it may require a map in order to follow all the silences, nonverbal cues and passive-aggressive behaviors!” - Adam S. McHugh

18. “I don't think avoiding conflict is not caring.~Shin” - Ai Yazawa

19. “In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.” - Lao Tzu

20. “To set up what you like against what you dislike, this is the disease of the mind.” - Seng-t'san

21. “In the animal kingdom, the rule is, eat or be eaten; in the human kingdom, define or be defined.” - Thomas Stephen Szasz

22. “Lennie rolled off the bunk and stood up, and the two of them started for the door. Just as they reached it, Curley bounced in."You seen a girl around here?" he demanded angrily.George said coldly, "'Bout half an hour ago maybe.""Well, what the hell was she doin'?"George stood still, watching the angry little man. He said insultingly, "She said--she was lookin' for you."Curley seemed really to see George for the first time. His eyes flashed over George, took in his height, measured his reach, looked at his trim middle. "Well, which way'd she go?" he demanded at last."I dunno," said George. "I didn't watch her go."Curley scowled at him, and turning, hurried out the door.George said, "Ya know, Lennie, I'm scared I'm gonna tangle with that bastard myself. I hate his guts. Jesus Christ! Come on. There won't be a damn thing left to eat.” - John Steinbeck

23. “Knowing when to fight is just as important as knowing how.” - Terry Goodkind

24. “Every period of human development has had its own particular type of human conflict—its own variety of problem that, apparently, could be settled only by force. And each time, frustratingly enough, force never really settled the problem. Instead, it persisted through a series of conflicts, then vanished of itself—what's the expression—ah, yes, 'not with a bang, but a whimper,' as the economic and social environment changed. And then, new problems, and a new series of wars.” - Isaac Asimov

25. “I wish I could tell you how lonely I am. How cold and harsh it is here. Everywhere there is conflict and unkindness. I think God has forsaken this place. I believe I have seen hell and it's white, it's snow-white.” - Sandy Welch

26. “And he who wields white, wild magic gold is a paradoxFor he is everything and nothingHero and foolPotent, helplessAnd with one word of truth or treacheryHe will save or damn the earthBecause he is mad and saneCold and passionateLost and found” - Stephen R. Donaldson

27. “A shell in the pit," said I, "if the worst comes to worst will kill them all."The intense excitement of the events had no doubt left my perceptive powers in a state of erethism. I remember that dinner table with extraordinary vividness even now. My dear wife's sweet anxious face peering at me from under the pink lampshade, the white cloth with it silver and glass table furniture—for in those days even philosophical writers had luxuries—the crimson-purple wine in my glass, are photographically distinct. At the end of it I sat, tempering nuts with a cigarette, regretting Ogilvy's rashness, and denouncing the shortsighted timidity of the Martians.So some respectable dodo in the Mauritius might have lorded it in his nest, and discussed the arrival of that shipful of pitiless sailors in want of animal food. "We will peck them to death tomorrow, my dear.” - H.G. Wells

28. “If you need to find out who is your friend among many, stimulate a resolutive conflict.” - Toba Beta

29. “All concepts of politics, of whatever kind, are about conflict──how to contain it, or abolish it.” - Ralph Miliband

30. “Provocation is on the opposite lane of resolution.” - Toba Beta

31. “So does nobody care about Ireland?""Nobody. Neither King Louis, nor King Billie, nor King James." He nodded thoughtfully. "The fate of Ireland will be decided by men not a single one of whom gives a damn about her. That is her tragedy.” - Edward Rutherfurd

32. “I know how to be the witness to her grief. I don't know how to be this kind of villain.” - Holly Black

33. “I need you to be happy. I need one of us to be happy.” - Holly Black

34. “Damn. It looks to me like I just missed the best reunion since Sherman got together with Atlanta.” - Susan Elizabeth Phillips

35. “Organizations like the UN do a lot of good, but there are certain basic realities they never seem to grasp ...Maybe the most important truth that eludes these organizations is that it's insulting when outsiders come in and tell a traumatized people what it will take for them to heal.You cannot go to another country and make a plan for it. The cultural context is so different from what you know that you will not understand much of what you see. I would never come to the US and claim to understand what's going on, even in the African American culture. People who have lived through a terrible conflict may be hungry and desperate, but they are not stupid. They often have very good ideas about how peace can evolve, and they need to be asked.That includes women. Most especially women ...To outsiders like the UN, these soldiers were a problem to be managed. But they were our children.” - Leymah Gbowee

36. “Why can't we be friends now?" said the other, holding him affectionately. "It's what I want. It's what you want." But the horses didn't want it — they swerved apart: the earth didn't want it, sending up rocks through which riders must pass single file; the temple, the tank, the jail, the palace, the birds, the carrion, the Guest House, that came into view as they emerged from the gap and saw Mau beneath: they didn't want it, they said in their hundred voices "No, not yet," and the sky said "No, not there.” - E.M. Forster

37. “These days when Christians bicker they exaggerate passion into a legalistic belief and prosperity into a lukewarm belief.” - Criss Jami

38. “It always seems as though the definition of love will remain debatable by an opinionated world.” - Criss Jami

39. “Even after centuries of human interacting, children still continue to rebel against their parents and siblings. Young marrieds look upon their in-laws and parents as obstacles to their independence and growth. Parents view their children as selfish ingrates. Husbands desert their wives and seek greener fields elsewhere. Wives form relationships with heroes of soap operas who vicariously bring excitement and romance into their empty lives. Workers often hate their bosses and co-workers and spend miserable hours with them, day after day. On a larger scale, management cannot relate with labour. Each accuses the other of unreasonable self-interests and narrow-mindedness. Religious groups often become entrapped, each in a provincial dogma resulting in hate and vindictiveness in the name of God. Nations battle blindly, under the shadow of the world annihilation, for the realization of their personal rights. Members of these groups blame rival groups for their continual sense of frustration, impotence, lack of progress and communication. We have obviously not learned much over the years. We have not paused long enough to consider the simple truth that we humans are not born with particular attitudinal sets regarding other persons, we are taught into them. We are the future generation's teachers. We are, therefore, the perpetrators of the confusion and alienation we abhor and which keeps us impotent in finding new alternatives. It is up to us to diligently discover new solutions and learn new patterns of relating, ways more conducive to growth, peace, hope and loving coexistence. Anything that is learned can be unlearned and relearned. In this process called change lies our real hope.” - Leo Buscaglia

40. “I will give you a few guarantees of my own, Mukthar. I guarantee that before the sun sets, even if you win, even if my cold, dead body is lying on the field, you will rue the day you ever set foot in the Plains. For every inch you advance I'll exact gallons of Mukthar blood. I guarantee that there will be not one family of the Bear Mukthars or they will mourn at least one of theirs. I guarantee that even if you are triumphant the fruits of victory will taste like dust in your mouth. I guarantee that if you fail to kill me today, you will meet me again. You will meet me at the Ximerionian border. You will meet me at every city, town, village, and hamlet. You will meet me on every Amirathan crossroad, on every hill. I will fight you with every sword at my command, with every arrow, with every dagger. I will fight you with pitchforks. I will fight you with the very rocks of the land you try to conquer. I will never, never, never give up.~Anaxantis, before the Battle of the Zinchara (May 29th, 1453 aed)” - Andrew Ashling

41. “The very people you trusted most could become like strangers in their longing...” - Lynne Reid Banks

42. “Peace cannot be achieved; they have to be plucked out of their pod.” - A.G. Phillips

43. “Its complicated, on one level. On another, its the same old stupid story - we aren't enlightened. We disagree, fall in love, and hate eachother, the whole spectrum of human experience. We have differences of opinion, and sometimes, we can't resolve those differences peacefully. If a disagreement goes for long enough, and is important enough, people start to take sides. Once people start to take sides, conflict is inevitable.” - Zachary Rawlins

44. “So never give in,” continued the girl, and restated again and again the vague yet convincing plea that the Invisible lodges against the Visible. Her excitement grew as she tried to cut the rope that fastened Leonard to the earth. Woven of bitter experience, it resisted her. Presently the waitress entered and gave her a letter from Margaret. Another note, addressed to Leonard, was inside. They read them, listening to the murmurings of the river.” - E.M. Forster

45. “A transference neurosis corresponds to a conflict between ego and id, a narcissistic neurosis corresponds to that between between ego and super-ego, and a psychosis to that between ego and outer world.” - Sigmund Freud

46. “Often those that criticise others reveal what he himself lacks.” - Shannon L. Alder

47. “Money follows interest, and interest is largely driven by media attention, which is more easily captured by the drama of conflict than by peace.” - Romeo Dallaire

48. “I can see that the sadness has returned. And it's not a beautiful sadness- beautiful sadness is a myth. Sadness turns our features to clay, not porcelain.” - David Levithan

49. “Perhaps one day, all these conflicts will end, and it won't be because of great statesmen or churches or organisations like this one. It'll be because people have changed. They'll be like you, Puffin. More a mixture. So why not become a mongrel? It's healthy.” - Kazuo Ishiguro

50. “Never annoy an inspirational author or you will become the poison in her pen and the villian in every one of her books.” - Shannon L. Alder

51. “Part of me wanted this more than anything else in the world—to have someone to hang out with, be like everyone else for a while. The rest of me screamed to get the hell out of there, not to get sucked in.” - Rachel Ward

52. “Boredom is the inner conflict we suffer when we lose desire, when we lack a lacking.” - Robert McKee

53. “The only real conflict you will ever have in your life won’t be with others, but with yourself.” - Shannon L. Alder

54. “But the point is, now, at this moment, or any moment, we're only cross-sections of our real selves. What we really are is the whole stretch of ourselves, all our time, and when we come to the end of this life, all those selves, all our time, will be us - the real you, the real me. And then perhaps we'll find ourselves in another time, which is only another kind of dream.” - J.B. Priestley

55. “...gripping the rim of the sink you claw your way to stand and cling there, quaking with will, on heron legs, and still the hot muck pours out of you. (p. 27)” - Barbara Blatner

56. “I could simply kill you now, get it over with, who would know the difference? I could easily kick you in, stove you under, for all those times, mean on gin, you rammed words into my belly. (p. 52)” - Barbara Blatner

57. “Your future is uncertain, and I can tell you nothing that can help you. You are singular and dangerous, and so it is that you are sought by both the Dark and the Light.” - Alison Croggon

58. “Indahnya "sekali mengayuh dayung, dua-tiga pulau terlampaui" bisa terancam kalau muncul yang namanya "conflict of interest” - Sartika Kurniali

59. “We have all at one time been stranded on islands shouting lies across the seas of misunderstanding, hoping the fog will carry our mischief to the distant ports in people’s minds.” - Shannon L. Alder

60. “O! I shall soon despair, when I shall seeThat Thou lovest mankind well, yet wilt not choose me,And Satan hates me, yet is loth to lose me.” - John Donne

61. “The reason everything falls apart around me, but I don’t is because my angels keep me standing up.” - Shannon L. Alder

62. “A mistake made by many people with great convictions is that they will let nothing stand in the way of their views, not even kindness.” - Bryant McGill

63. “Humans do not simply, innocently, and honestly disagree with each other about the good, the just, the right, the principles and applications of moral distinction and valuation, for they are already caught, like it or not, in a complex dynamic of each other’s desires, recognition, power, and comparisons which not only relativizes moral distinctions and valuations, but makes them a constant and dangerous source of discord.” - Gregory B. Sadler

64. “Within Hobbes’ depiction of the motives for conflict. . . there is a problematic in which the grave threat that human beings pose to other human beings is not constituted simply by the structures of human passions, interests, and desires, nor by the addition of a self-deceptive and egotistical desire for recognition and proof of one’s perhaps illusory power. In this moment, it is the very rationality of other humans, reason in the broad sense, understood as roughly equal to oneself in both capacity and structure, that poses such a threat” - Gregory B. Sadler

65. “If he touches me, I will succumb. I know the power he wields over me and my traitorous body. I know.” - E.L. James

66. “I would say that all our sciences are the material that has to be mythologized. A mythology gives spiritual import - what one might call rather the psychological, inward import, of the world of nature round about us, as understood today. There's no real conflict between science and religion ... What is in conflict is the science of 2000 BC ... and the science of the 20th century AD.” - Joseph Campbell

67. “You have to lift a person up before you can really put them in their place.” - Criss Jami

68. “Most of life is a matter of nonessential differences.” - Duane Elmer

69. “The world had been divided into two parts that sought to annihilate each other because they both desired the same thing, namely the liberation of the oppressed, the elimination of violence, and the establishment of permanent peace.” - Hermann Hesse

70. “Few artists thrive in solitude and nothing is more stimulating than the conflict of minds with similar interests.” - Arthur C. Clarke

71. “this clumsy collision of two very impatient forms of ignorance was known as the quarrel of Science and Religion.” - G.K. Chesterton

72. “Convingerea mea este ca artistul nu are nevoie de liniste sufleteasca si de calm. Trebuie sa fie intr-un surd conflict sau intr-o permanenta stare de iritare. Ca umilit, ca ocolit, ca neluat in seama. Cind aud atitea indemnuri pe la televiziune si radio, "Sa gindesti pozitiv!", spun: "Sunteti niste prosti!". Ma enerveaza teribil aceste indemnuri. E nevoie de starea conflictuala, de neprevazut, care te duce, prin intimplare si printr-un mecanism pe care nu-l stapinesti, la realizari palpabile. Ce e aia, "Gindeste pozitiv si stai linistit!"? Trece viata pe linga tine...” - Mircea-Horia Simionescu

73. “We must do business in great waters; we must be really on the deck in a storm, if we would see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. We must have stood side by side with King David; we must have gone down into the pit to slay the lion or have lifted up the spear against the eight hundred, if we would know the saving strength of God's right hand. Conflicts bring experience, and experience brings that growth in grace which is not to be attained by any other means.” - Charles H. Spurgeon

74. “Respectful communication under conflict or opposition is an essential and truly awe-inspiring ability.” - Bryant McGill

75. “Any act of violence creates resentment and resistance, because humans were meant to be free.” - Bryant McGill

76. “Never reject an idea because it will create conflict!” - Syed Ather

77. “He had a simple maxim for all competitive or adversarial situations: work out what the other party least wants you to do, and then do it. Relieving your feelings was fun, but the best course of action was to make things as difficult as possible for the person trying to make things difficult for you.” - John Lanchester