A Zero-Sum Game

“The single greatest mistake, and it’s been made many times in history, is to believe that peace is a zero-sum game. If I win, you lose. If I suffer, you gain. It isn’t so. The truth is the opposite. From violence both sides suffer. From peace, both sides gain. That is why no one does a service to peace by demonising one side and making heroes of the other. Peace is a duet scored for two voices; and someone who thinks that one voice can win by drowning out the other just hasn’t understood what a duet is.”

From Optimism to Hope, p. 35