If you believe that a smile is more than a weapon,
If you believe in the power of an offered hand,
If you believe that what brings people together is more important than what divides them, …
If you believe that being different is a richness, not a danger,
If you know how to look at others with a touch of love,
If you know how to prefer hope to suspicion…
If you feel it’s up to you to take the first step, rather than someone else,
If the look in a child’s eyes still manages to disarm your heart,
If you can rejoice in your neighbor’s joy,
If the injustice that strikes others revolts you as much as the injustice you suffer,
If you see a stranger as a brother offered to you,
If you know how to accept when someone else does you a favor,
If you share your bread and know how to add a piece of your heart,
If you believe that forgiveness goes further than revenge…
If you can sing of other people’s happiness and dance to their joy,
If you can listen to the unfortunate person who is wasting your time and keep smiling,
If you can accept criticism and make the most of it without defending yourself,
If you can welcome and adopt an opinion that differs from your own…
If you refuse to beat your drums on other people’s chests,
If for you, the other is first and foremost a brother,
If anger is for you a weakness, not a proof of strength,
If you’d rather be wronged than do harm to someone,
If you refuse to let the flood come after you,
If you side with the poor and the oppressed without thinking yourself a hero,
If you believe that love is the only persuasive force,
If you believe that peace is possible; then peace will come!