Learn how to transform disagreements into opportunities by checking out the following list of conflict resolution quotes.
Conflict is an inevitable part of life, especially in the workplace. While often perceived negatively, it can actually be a catalyst for growth, deeper understanding, and stronger relationships – as long as it is handled with care. Below is a collection of insightful conflict resolution quotes curated from various thinkers, leaders, and historical figures to inspire and guide you.
(by Jonathan M. Pham)
Short Conflict Resolution Quotes
- Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win. – Jonathan Kozol
- This too shall pass. – Persian Proverb
- Don’t look where you fall, but where you slipped. – African Proverb
- When elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers. – African Proverb
- Conflict cannot survive without your participation. – Wayne Dyer
Read more: 45 Self Control Quotes – A Daily Toolkit for Mastery
Quotes about conflict
Famous Conflict Resolution Quotes
- Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. – Ronald Reagan
- Every conflict we face in life is rich with positive and negative potential. It can be a source of inspiration, enlightenment, learning, transformation, and growth-or rage, fear, shame, entrapment, and resistance. The choice is not up to our opponents, but to us, and our willingness to face and work through them. – Kenneth Cloke
- Do not think of knocking out another person’s brain because he differs in opinion from you. It would be as rational to knock yourself on the head because you differ from yourself 10 years ago. – Horace Mann
- The quality of our lives depends not on whether we have conflicts, but on how we respond to them. – Thomas Crum
- In the end, the aggressors always destroy themselves, making way for others who know how to cooperate and get along. – Fritjof Capra
Read more: 75 Positive Thinking Quotes – Inspire Your Best Self
Workplace Conflict Resolution Quotes
- Whenever you’re in conflict with someone, one factor can deepen or damage your relationship: Attitude. – William James
- All disagreements are opportunities for understanding.
- Better team communication helps leverage conflict rather than be leveled by it. – Runde & Flanagan
- Conflict resolution starts when ideas are shared, listened to, and explored.
- A good manager doesn’t try to eliminate conflict; he tries to keep it from wasting the energies of his people. – Robert Townsend
Read more: 45 Team Building Quotes – Ignite Teamwork for Sustainable Growth
Quotes about conflict at work
Avoiding Conflict Quotes
- To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing. – Aristotle
- The more we run from conflict, the more it masters us. – David Augsburger
- Avoiding conflict usually allows it to grow under the surface.
- When you ignore a situation, conflict becomes the loudest voice.
- People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other. – Martin Luther King Jr.
Read more: 65 Curiosity Quotes – Ignite the Mind & Drive Success
Conflict Management Quotes
- We must completely abandon the goal of getting people to do what we want. – Marshall B. Rosenberg
- You must see a conflict within its system, not just as an exchange. – Peter T. Coleman
- Effective resolution demands not force, but understanding and reframing. – Saul Alinsky
- Those who trust us educate us. – George Eliot
- Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. – Alfred Adler
Read more: 60 Collaboration Quotes – Inspiring Teamwork & Business Success
Dispute resolution quotes
Peace and Conflict Resolution Quotes
- Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. – Albert Einstein
- Nothing in life is to be feared, only to be understood. – Marie Curie
- When you talk to someone in their language, it goes to their heart. – Nelson Mandela
- Only reverence can restrain violence — reverence for life. – William Sloan Coffin Jr.
- Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet, only through trials. – Helen Keller
Read more: 50 Essential Emotional Intelligence Quotes for Success
Quotes about peace and conflict resolution
Communication in Conflict Quotes
- Imagine the opposing side’s ‘victory speech’ and tailor language to help them feel that win. – William Ury
- Listen, Observe, Value, Engage—the LOVE acronym for connecting during conflict. – Talia Fox
- We can only influence the other side to the extent we can influence ourselves. – William Ury
- A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. – Proverbs 15:1
- If we’re miscommunicating, what ends up happening is there’s a lot of turnover in the workplace. – Cynthia Kane
Read more: 60 Communication Quotes for Work – The Art of Connection
Choossing Empathy Over Conflict Quotes
- You have to be able to see the story of the other and put differences aside. – Christiane Amanpour
- Most misunderstandings could be avoided if people would ask, ‘What else could this mean?’ – Shannon Alder
- Begin challenging your own assumptions. Scrub them off every once in a while. – Alan Alda
- An act of love — taking some pain on for others — increases courage and hope. – Dorothy Day
- Only if we understand will we care. Only if we care will we help. – Jane Goodall
Read more: 40 Empathy Quotes – Cultivating Connection for Success
Leadership Conflict Resolution Quotes
- A leader adjusts the sails when conflict arises. – John C. Maxwell
- If you don’t do it up front, you’ll do it during crisis. – Stephen Covey
- Faced with crisis, the man of character falls back on himself. – Charles de Gaulle
- If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies. – Desmond Tutu
- A leader who doesn’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people with nothing to say. – Andy Stanley
Read more: 110 Leadership Quotes – Words that Unlock Greatness
Conflict resolution phrases
Other resources you might be interested in:
- 55 Quotes About Listening: From Hearing to Understanding
- 50 Feedback Quotes: Insights From Business Leaders
- 55 Company Culture Quotes: Building a Great Workplace
- 85 Resilience Quotes for Work: A Dose of Workplace Fortitude
- 80 Employee Engagement Quotes: Inspire & Engage
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