Unity

Concepts of Unity, commonly also known as Oneness; the state or fact of existing as one indivisible entity.

Quotes

 * Sorted alphabetically by author or source




 * As difference in degree of capacity exists among human souls, as difference in capability is found, therefore, individualities will differ one from another. But in reality this is a reason for unity and not for discord and enmity. If the flowers of a garden were all of one color, the effect would be monotonous to the eye; but if the colors are variegated, it is most pleasing and wonderful. The difference in adornment of color and capacity of reflection among the flowers gives the garden its beauty and charm. Therefore, although we are of different individualities, . . . let us strive like flowers of the same divine garden to live together in harmony. Even though each soul has its own individual perfume and color, all are reflecting the same light, all contributing fragrance to the same breeze which blows through the garden, all continuing to grow in complete harmony and accord.
 * `Abdu'l-Bahá, in The Promulgation of Universal Peace : Talks Delivered by `Abdu'l-Bahá during His Visit to the United States and Canada in 1912 (1982), edited by the US Bahá'í Publishing Trust, p. 24


 * United we stand; divided we fall.
 * Aesop in "The Four Oxen and the Lion", Fables, also known as "The Lion and the Bulls"


 * During the war of the dogs and the wolves, the dog-assembly chose an Achaean to be their commander. Although he was an expert in the art of war, the commander waited and delayed. With fierce threats, the dogs urged him to advance and to engage in battle but the commander explained, 'Here is the reason why I delay and act with caution! One must always make plans with an eye to the future. All of the enemy whom I have seen are wolves, members of the same breed, whereas some of us are dogs from Crete, some are Molossian hounds, some are Acarnanians, others are Dolopians, while others boast of being from Cyprus or Thrace. Still others come from other places -- what need is there to go on at length? We are not even the same colour, as the wolves are: some of us are black, some are grey, some are red with white-spotted chests, and some of us are white all over. How can I lead troops who are so lacking in unity to fight against an enemy who all resemble each other in every possible way?'
 * Aesop, The Dogs and Their Commander, Perry Index 343


 * Misato: Don't you want to be comfortable? To be restful? Don't you want to become one with us? Body and soul, too... become one.
 * Hideaki Anno, Neon Genesis Evangelion Episode 26: My pure Heart to You


 * What was sundered and undone shall be whole, the two made one.
 * Aughra, voiced by Billie Whitelaw in The Dark Crystal (1982), directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz


 * Unity we must create, but not necessarily uniformity.
 * Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo: The Human Cycle,The Ideal of Human Unity, War and Self-Determination, 1997: 423).quoted in    Malhotra, R., & Infinity Foundation (Princeton, N.J.). (2018). Being different: An Indian challenge to western universalism.


 * If man could realize a perfect spiritual unity, no sort of uniformity would be necessary; for the utmost play of diversity would be securely possible on that foundation. If again he could realize a secure, clear, firmly held unity in the principle, a rich, even an unlimited diversity in its application might be possible without any fear of disorder, confusion or strife.
 * Aurobindo, Collected Works of Sri Aurobindo: The Human Cycle,The Ideal of Human Unity, War and Self-Determination, 1997: 423) quoted in   Malhotra, R., & Infinity Foundation (Princeton, N.J.). (2018). Being different: An Indian challenge to western universalism.


 * We are all equal, despite the country we come from, and national differences should be ignored. We are all a unity. We must shed all jealousy and envy because they are harmful. We are all one with each other and with God.
 * Haidakhan Babaji, The Teachings of Babaji, 2 April 1980.


 * The utterance of God is a lamp, whose light is these words: Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal ye one with another in the utmost love and harmony. …So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.
 * Baha'u'llah, as quoted in The Baháí̕ Temple : House of Worship of a World Faith (1942) edited by National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States


 * The distribution of the world's resources and the settled unity of the peoples of the world are in reality one and the same thing, for behind all modern wars lies a fundamental economic problem. Solve that and wars will very largely cease. In considering, therefore, the preservation of peace, as sought for and emphasized by the United Nations at this time, it becomes immediately apparent that peace, security and world stability are primarily tied up with the economic problem. When there is freedom from want, one of the major causes of war will disappear. Where there is uneven distribution of the world's riches and where there is a situation in which some nations have or take everything and other nations lack the necessities of life, it is obvious that there is a trouble-breeding factor there and that something must be done. Therefore we should deal with world unity and peace primarily from the angle of the economic problem.
 * Alice Bailey in Problems Of Humanity, Chapter VI - The Problem of International Unity  (1944)


 * It is essential for the future happiness and progress of humanity that there should be no return to the old ways, whether political, religious or economic. Therefore, in handling these problems we should search out the wrong conditions which have brought humanity to its present state of almost cataclysmic disaster. These conditions were the result of religious faiths which have not moved forward in their thinking for hundreds of years; of economic systems which lay the emphasis upon the accumulation of riches and material possessions and which leave all the power and the produce of the earth in the hands of a relatively few men, while the rest of humanity struggle for a bare subsistence; and of political regimes run by the corrupt, the totalitarian-minded, the grafters and those who love place and power more than they love their fellowmen... Security, happiness and peaceful relations are desired by all. Until, however, the Great Powers, in collaboration with the little nations, have solved the economic problem and have realized that the resources of the earth belong to no one nation but to humanity as a whole, there will be no peace. The oil of the world, the mineral wealth, the wheat, the sugar and the grains belong to all men everywhere. They are essential to the daily living of the everyday man.
 * Alice Bailey in Problems Of Humanity, Chapter VI - The Problem of International Unity  (1944)


 * The world economic council (or whatever body represents the resources of the world) must free itself from fraudulent politics, capitalistic influence and its devious scheming; it must set the resources of the earth free for the use of humanity. This will be a lengthy task but it will be possible when world need is better appreciated. An enlightened public opinion will make the decisions of the economic council practical and possible. Sharing and cooperation must be taught instead of greed and competition.
 * Alice Bailey in Problems Of Humanity, Chapter VI - The Problem of International Unity  (1944)


 * Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
 * Bible Psalms 133:1


 * …we believe that living under the same state should be with the consent of the human groups that make up that state. Just as marriage cannot be maintained by force, state unity cannot be achieved through military force. Marriage can never be achieved or preserved by threats to neighbors.
 * Kok Bayraq and, "A Uyghur View of the Taiwan Issue: Can the CCP Speak on Behalf of “1.4 Billion Chinese”?", Bitter Winter (June 6, 2024)


 * [A]s the great extreme of dimension is sublime, so the last extreme of littleness is in the same measure sublime... when we attend to the infinite divisibility of matter, when we pursue animal life into these excessively small, and yet organized beings... when we push our discoveries yet downward... in tracing which the imagination is lost as well as the sense; we become amazed and confounded at the wonders of minuteness; nor can we distinguish in its effects this extreme of littleness from the vast itself. For division must be infinite as well as addition; because the idea of a perfect unity can no more be arrived at, than that of a complete whole, to which nothing can be added.
 * Edmund Burke,  (1757) The Works of the Right Honorable Edmund Burke (1889) Vol. 1, pp. 100-101.


 * We can no longer separate things as we once could: everything tends towards unity; one thing, one action, in one place, at one time. On the other hand, we can no longer unify things as we once could; we are driven to ultimate atoms, each one of which is an individuality. So that we have an infinite multitude of things doing an infinite multitude of actions in infinite time and space; and yet they are not many things, but one thing.
 * Samuel Butler, Unity and Multitude The Note-Books of Samuel Butler (1912) Part VI - Mind and Matter


 * Unity: noun... the state of being joined together or in agreement; Unity is also the quality of having the ideas and examples in a piece of writing clearly related to the topic and to each other.
 * [Cambridge Dictionary, Cambridge University Press (2020)


 * Despite the immense diversity of creation, we all accept that there exists in nature a profound underlying unity. The search for this unity provides the motivation for the lives of many different men — some who, like Einstein, search for it in general natural laws and others who, like Teilhard de Chardin, would trace cosmic evolution to a divine origin.
 * René Dubos, Science and Man's Nature (1965)


 * Tous pour un, un pour tous, c'est notre devise
 * All for one, one for all, that is our motto.
 * Alexandre Dumas,The Three Musketeers, (1844) Ch. 9: D'Artagnan Shows Himself


 * 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 feelings 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 nature in its beauty.
 * Albert Einstein in Condolence letter to Norman Salit, (4 March 1950); also quoted in "The Einstein Papers. A Man of Many Parts" in The New York Times (29 March 1972)


 * Ra's al Ghul: In the new world, all peoples will be united, every race, every faith, every creed will find common purpose... our world is not for everyone. Only those who prove their worth will enter it. The rest will be purged... and if nine hundred and ninety-nine must perish for every one who lives... so be it!
 * David Hine Azrael Vol 2 #18


 * We are all one in God’s seeing.
 * Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love (c.1393), Ch. 30


 * Unity implies the coming together of elements which are, to begin with, varied and diverse in their particular natures. Our persistence in examining the tensions within diversity encourages growth toward our common goal. So often we either ignore the past or romanticize it, render the reason for unity useless or mythic.
 * Audre Lorde, Learning from the 60s,

I am haunted by waters.
 * Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.
 * Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It (1976)


 * He loved her so passionately he wanted her to be one soul and one body with him; and he was conscious that here, with those deep roots attaching her to the native life, she would always keep something from him.
 * W. Somerset Maugham, Collected short stories 1, "The pool", p. 123


 * In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas
 * Unity in things Necessary, Liberty in things Unnecessary, and Charity in all.
 * Rupertus Meldenius (Peter Meiderlin) in Paraenesis votiva pro Pace Ecclesiae ad Theologos Augustanae Confessionis, Auctore Ruperto Meldenio Theologo (c. 1627). Some forms of this statement have been attributed to Richard Baxter, but though he used the motto, he himself attributed it to Meldenius.


 * Oh, shame to men! devil with devil damn'd Firm concord holds, men only disagree Of creatures rational.
 * John Milton, Paradise Lost (1667; 1674), Book II, line 496


 * Unity in diversity is the highest possible attainment of a civilisation, a testimony to the most noble possibilities of the human race. This attainment is made possible through passionate concern for choice, in an atmosphere of social trust.
 * Michael Novak, Unity in Diversity : An Index to the Publications of Conservative and Libertarian Institutions (1983)


 * Heart of my heart, we are one with the wind, One with the clouds that are whirled o'er the lea, One in many, O broken and blind, One as the waves are at one with the sea! Ay! when life seems scattered apart, Darkens, ends as a tale that is told, One, we are one, O heart of my heart, One, still one, while the world grows old.
 * Alfred Noyes, in "Unity", in The Golden Hynde and Other Poems (1914)


 * El pueblo unido jamás será vencido, el pueblo unido jamás será vencido.
 * The people united will never be defeated, The people united will never be defeated.
 * , "¡" with music composed by.


 * As soon as an object is regarded as a dynamic entity, then analysis and definition become both difficult and unsatisfactory. Thinking is under such circumstances well-nigh impossible for most people. To think at all logically, no matter how concretistic the thought may be, there must be some static point. Where, now are we to look for this point? The man of action answers, in its effect. Then an object becomes completely separated... from all other objective elements as well as from the perceiving self. ...Reality, in other words, is pragmatic. ...Like all other philosophers, he [the thinker, as opposed to the man of action] is... aware of the movement and the shifting form of things. He is as much impressed by this as the man of action. But the world must first be static and objects must first take on a permanent or, at least, a stable form before one can deal with them systematically. ...The attempts of these primitive thinkers are embodied in numerous creation myths... the task is always the same—an original, moving, shapeless or undifferentiated world must be brought to rest and given stable form. ...There exist, however, many things that manifestly do not have permanence of form and do look different at different times. Philosophers have always given the same answer to this problem and predicated a unity behind these changing aspects and forms.
 * Paul Radin, Primitive Man as Philosopher (1927)


 * God, creating the universe, neither made it perfectly like Himself, nor perfectly unlike, for He, being One, has made the world as not one, from the diverse multiplicity of its innumerable parts, ordaining, nevertheless, that they should collect into a certain unity by their exact contiguity. The upper world has no connexion with this subject; the lower, and elementary world, owes this contiguity to the weight divinely impressed on its parts, aided by the subtle fluidity of some of its simple bodies. It is by this quality, with which the matter of the four elements is more or less invested, that they are separated from one another, and each transported to its proper place, as the generation of compounds, and the beauty of the universe requires.
 * John Rey, Essays (1630) as quoted in Art IX. A Translation of Rey's Essays on the Calcination of Metals, &c. (1821) The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature, and the Arts, Vol. XI (1821) pp. 80-83. A translation as communicated by John George Children, Esq., F.R.S., &c. Ref: Rey J., Essays de Jean Rey, sur la recherche de la cause pour laquelle l'estain et le plomb augmentent de poids quand on les calcine. Nouvelle édition revue sur l'exemplaire original et augmentée sur les manuscrits de la Bibliothèque du Roi et des Minimes, avec des notes par M. Gobet. Paris, Ruault, 1777.

They are of the same essence. When time afflicts us with pain In one part of that body All the other parts feel it too. '''If you fail to feel the pain of others You do not deserve the name of man.'''
 * All of the sons of Adam are part of one single body,
 * Saadi Shirazi,  (ca. 1250) as inscribed on a rug installed (2005) on the wall of a meeting room, United Nations, New York.


 * Let's be together, and let's fight together!
 * Oksana Shachko, as quoted in Interview: Speaking of Femen-ism (3 August 2015), .


 * So we grew together, Like to a double cherry, seeming parted, But yet an union in partition — Two lovely berries moulded on one stem; So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart; Two of the first, like coats in heraldry, Due but to one, and crowned with one crest.
 * William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena in Act III, sc. 2


 * In the "Alexandrian" explanation described above, the multiple from which evolution emerges is both secondary and sinful from its origin: it represents in fact (an idea that smacks of Manicheanism and the Hindu metaphysical systems) broken and pulverized unity. Starting from a very much more modern and completely different point of view, let us assert, as our original postulate, that, the multiple (that is, non-being, if taken in the pure state) being the only rational form of a creatable (creabile) nothingness, the creative act is comprehensible only as a gradual process of arrangement and unification, which amounts to accepting that to create is to unite. And, indeed, there is nothing to prevent our holding that union creates. To the objection that union presupposes already existing elements, I shall answer that physics has just shown us (in the case of mass) that experientially (and for all the protests of "common sense") the moving object exists only as the product of its motion.
 * Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Christianity and Evolution 1971, pp. 193–195


 * Their meetings made December June. Their every parting was to die.
 * Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H. (1849), XCVII


 * Though free to think and act, we are held together, like the stars in the firmament, with ties inseparable. These ties cannot be seen, but we can feel them. I cut myself in the finger, and it pains me: this finger is a part of me. I see a friend hurt, and it hurts me, too: my friend and I are one. And now I see stricken down an enemy, a lump of matter which, of all the lumps of matter in the universe, I care least for, and it still grieves me. Does this not prove that each of us is only part of a whole? For ages this idea has been proclaimed in the consummately wise teachings of religion, probably not alone as a means of insuring peace and harmony among men, but as a deeply founded truth. The Buddhist expresses it in one way, the Christian in another, but both say the same: We are all one.
 * Nikola Tesla, in "The Problem of Increasing Human Energy with Special References to the Harnessing of the Sun's Energy" in Century Illustrated Magazine (June 1900).


 * Now the power of the imagination is a unifying power, hence the force of metaphor; and the poet is the supreme manipulator of metaphor... the world needs the unifying power of the imagination. The two things that give it best are poetry and religion.
 * R. S. Thomas, Selected Prose (1995), p. 131


 * Unity isn't established by ignoring the differences between different groups, but by persuading everyone to take all the different struggles seriously.
 * Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, The fight against racism doesn't stop here (July 23, 2013), .


 * I know that my unity with all people cannot be destroyed by national boundaries and government orders.
 * Leo Tolstoy, My Religion (1884)


 * The trees act not as individuals, but somehow as a collective. Exactly how they do this, we don’t yet know. But what we see is the power of unity.
 * Robin Wall Kimmerer Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)


 * I think we've had to learn better the idea that the world is governed by a unified set of laws — which we don't yet know. ... physics and chemistry are not separate sciences. And even biology, as strongly influenced as it is by historical accidents — like the shapes of the continents and the fact that a comet may have hit the Earth sixty-five million years ago — biology itself doesn't have independent laws. There is no biological law that says organisms have to evolve to get better. That's a consequence of natural selection acting on heritable variations. ... The unity of science is something we've learned. I guess you could say we have unlearned the idea that there are separate, independent principles of physics, of chemistry, of biology — all standing at the same level of being equally fundamental.
 * Steven Weinberg, (quote at 12:42 of 1:03:04; interview by  on May 31, 2015)

Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922)

 * Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 827-28.


 * When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.
 * Edmund Burke, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontent


 * I never use the word "nation" in speaking of the United States. I always use the word "Union" or "Confederacy." We are not a nation but a union, a confederacy of equal and sovereign States.
 * J. C. Calhoun, to Oliver Dyer (Jan. 1, 1849)


 * The Constitution in all its provisions looks to an indestructible union composed of indestructible States.
 * Salmon P. Chase, decision in Texas vs. White. See Werden's Private Life and Public Services of Salmon P. Chase, p. 664


 * Neque est ullum certius amicitiæ vinculum, quam consensus et societas consiliorum et voluntatum.
 * There is no more sure tie between friends than when they are united in their objects and wishes.
 * Cicero, Oratio Pro Cnœo Plancio, II


 * Like two single gentlemen rolled into one.
 * George Colman the Younger, Broad Grins, Lodgings for Single Gentlemen


 * Then join in hand, brave Americans all! By uniting we stand, by dividing we fall.
 * John Dickinson, The Liberty Song of 1768


 * When our two lives grew like two buds that kiss At lightest thrill from the bee's swinging chime, Because the one so near the other is.
 * George Eliot, Brother and Sister, Part I, Stanza 1


 * We must all hang together or assuredly we shall all hang separately.
 * Benjamin Franklin, to John Hancock at the Signing of the Declaration of Independence (4 July 1776)


 *  Entzwei' und gebiete! Tüchtig Wort, Verein' und leite! Bess'rer Hort.
 * Divide and command, a wise maxim; Unite and guide, a better.
 * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Sprüche in Reimen, line 516


 * Was uns alle bändigt, das Gemeine.
 * The universal subjugator, the commonplace.
 * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Taschenbuch für Damen auf das Jahr (1806)


 * Our Union is river, lake, ocean, and sky: Man breaks not the medal, when God cuts the die! Though darkened with sulphur, though cloven with steel, The blue arch will brighten, the waters will heal!
 * Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Brother Jonathan's Lament for Sister Caroline, Stanza 7


 * There with commutual zeal we both had strove In acts of dear benevolence and love; Brothers in peace, not rivals in command.
 * Homer, The Odyssey, Book IV, line 241. Pope's translation


 * He that is not with me is against me.
 * Luke, XI. 23


 * Then none was for a party; Then all were for the state; Then the great man helped the poor,  And the poor man loved the great: Then lands were fairly portioned;  Then spoils were fairly sold: The Romans were like brothers  In the brave days of old.
 * Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, Lays of Ancient Rome. Horatius, Stanza 32


 * The union of lakes—the union of lands— The union of States none can sever— The union of hearts—the union of hands—  And the flag of our Union for ever!
 * George P. Morris, The Flag of Our Union


 * Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.
 * Psalms, CXXXIII. 1


 * Concordia res parvæ crescunt, discordia maximæ dilabantur.
 * By union the smallest states thrive, by discord the greatest are destroyed.
 * Sallust, Jugurtha, X


 * Wir sind ein Volk, und einig wollen wir handeln.
 * We are one people and will act as one.
 * Friedrich Schiller, Wilhelm Tell, II. 2. 258


 * Seid einig—einig—einig.
 * Be united—united—united.
 * Friedrich Schiller, Wilhelm Tell, IV. 2. 158


 * So we grew together, Like to a double cherry, seeming parted, But yet a union in partition; Two lovely berries moulded on one stem: So, with two seeming bodies, but one heart; Two of the first, like coats in heraldry, Due but to one and crowned with one crest.
 * William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream (c. 1595-96), Act III, scene 2, line 208


 * Auxilia humilia firma consensus facit.
 * Union gives strength to the humble.
 * Syrus, Maxims


 * Quo res cunque cadant, unum et commune periculum, Una salus ambobus erit.
 * Whatever may be the issue we shall share one common danger, one safety.
 * Virgil, Æneid (29-19 BC), II. 709


 * Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable.
 * Daniel Webster, second speech on Foote's Resolution (26 January 1830)


 * One Country, one Constitution, one Destiny.
 * Daniel Webster, speech (March 15, 1837)

Anonymous

 * In varietate concordia
 * Unity in diversity (or "United in diversity").
 * Motto of the European Union


 * Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno.
 * One for all, all for one.
 * Traditional motto of Switzerland, and also a motto in The Three Musketeers (1844) by Alexandre Dumas, where it is also reversed in the form "All for one, and one for all".


 * We're all in this together.
 * English proverb, prominent during World War II, as quoted in The Railroad Trainman, Vol. 59 (1942) by Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, p. 449


 * Unity is strength.
 * Fable

Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations (1989)

 * In union there is strength.
 * Aesop, fable, "The Bundle of Sticks", Aesop's Fables, with drawings by Fritz Kredel, p. 122 (1947). "Union gives strength" is the version in The Fables of Aesop, ed. Joseph Jacobs, p. 87 (1964)


 * Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments.
 * The Bible, Psalms 133:1–2


 * Civilisation will not last, freedom will not survive, peace will not be kept, unless a very large majority of mankind unite together to defend them and show themselves possessed of a constabulary power before which barbaric and atavistic forces will stand in awe.
 * Winston Churchill, chancellor's address, University of Bristol, Bristol, England, July 2, 1938.—Winston S. Churchill: His Complete Speeches, 1897–1963, ed. Robert Rhodes James, vol. 6, p. 5991 (1974)


 * All for one, one for all, that is our device, is it not?
 * Alexandre Dumas, The Three Musketeers, Ch. 9, p. 75 (1949); D'Artagnan is speaking.


 * Even though this is late in an election year, there is no way we can go forward except together and no way anybody can win except by serving the people's urgent needs. We cannot stand still or slip backwards. We must go forward now together.
 * President Gerald R. Ford, remarks on taking the oath of office, August 9, 1974. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Gerald R. Ford, 1974, p. 2


 * What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness, but love and wisdom and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country whether they be white or they be black. Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: To tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that and say a prayer for our country and our people.
 * Robert F. Kennedy. One of the inscriptions at the Robert F. Kennedy gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery. These words are taken from his extemporaneous eulogy of Martin Luther King, Jr., given at the airport in Indianapolis, Indiana, April 4, 1968.—Robert F. Kennedy: Promises to Keep, sel. Arthur Wortman and Richard Rhodes, p. 33 (1969) The printed version lacks the first two sentences above and a few words of the third, and there are other minor variations in wording. The quotation from the Greeks has been attributed to Aeschylus but has not been found in his works.


 * For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.
 * Rudyard Kipling, "The Law of the Jungle", The Second Jungle Book, p. 29 (1899)


 * And see the confluence of dreams That clashed together in our night, One river born of many streams Roll in one blaze of blinding light!
 * George William Russell, "Salutation", last stanza, 1000 Years of Irish Poetry (1947) edited by Kathleen Hoagland, p. 617. This was written for those who took part in the Irish rebellion against England, 1916.


 * It manus in gyrum; paullatim singula vires Deperdunt proprias; color est E pluribus unus.
 * Spins round the stirring hand; lose by degrees Their separate powers the parts, and comes at last From many several colors one that rules.
 * Virgil, "Moretum", lines 103–4, The Works of Virgil, trans. into English verse by John Augustine Wilstach, vol. 1, p. 123 (1884). Moretum literally means garden herbs. From Virgil's minor poems, this is a tribute "to common things and plebian associations. The lines are laudatory of early habits and rustic poverty. They close with a description of the ingredients and mode of preparation of a salad composed of garlic, parsley, rue, and onions, seasoned with cheese, salt, coriander, and vinegar, and finally sprinkled with oil. "The poem is a brief one, of uncertain, but probably early date. But, brief as it is, and insignificant as it seems to be, certain of its words formulate the talisman of our National Government. "So that we may say, with probable truth, that, in describing an Italian salad, a frugal shepherd of the Roman Republic dictated that motto [E pluribus unum] which has served as the symbol of union for States in a hemisphere then unknown, for a Republic which uses, with enthusiasm, even the language of that illustrious government to which it is indebted, under so many forms, for safe precedents and wise examples" (p. 124)