Peace Memorial Park/Pacifist Memorial - Sherborn, MA, USA - Peace Memorials on Waymarking.com

In Sherborn, at the intersection of MA Route 16 and MA Route 27, is the Peace Memorial Park, which features several monuments, dominated by an installation with a statue of Mohandas K. Gandhi at its center.

The park is easily visible from the intersection. Parking is not really available at the site, anymore, since the Peace Abbey left around April 2012. Best parking is probably at the town hall on Route 16, or on Village Way by the cemetery.

The main monument, The Pacifist Monument, has several components. At the center is a square base with pots at each corner, supporting a larger than life bronze statue of Gandhi in a walking pose and holding a walking stick.

Radiating outward from the statue are six brick walls that have plaques on them - about five on a side and one on each end. So, there are about 60 plaques with quotes from many languages and cultures. Thus, it's just too much to include all quotes here - some samples will be given.

At the statue:
Front: "Mohandas K. Gandhi 1869-1948 'My Life is my Message.'
Side 2: "'Religions are different roads converging at the same point. What does it matter that we take different roads, so long as we reach the same goal? In reality, there are as many religions as there are individuals.' Gandhi"
Side 3: "'I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good it does is only temporary - the evil it does is permanent.' Gandhi"
Side 4: "'Like the bee gathering honey from the different flowers, the wise person accepts the essence of the different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions.' Gandhi"

Sample Plaque 1: "Chief Seattle Native American Leader (1786 - 1866) 'Humankind did not weave the web of life. We are but strains within it. Whatever we do the web we do to ourselves.'"

Sample Plaque 2: "Martin Luther King, Jr. Leader in the Struggle for Civil Rights, Recipient of Nobel Peace Prize. (1929-1968) 'True pacifism is not unrealistic submission to an evil power...It is rather a courageous confrontation with evil by the power of love, in the faith that it is better to be the recipient of violence than the inflictor of it, since the latter only muliplies the existence of violance and bitterness in the universe, while the former may develop a sense of shame in the opponent and thereby bring about a transformation and change of heart.'"

Sample Plaque 3: "The Buddhist Prayer for Peace - May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses. May those frightened cease to be afraid, and amy those bound be free. May the powerless find power, and amy people think of befriending one another. May those who find themselves in trackless, fearful wildnernesses - the children, the aged, the unprotected - be guarded by beneficent celestials, and may they swiftly attain Buddhahood."

Sample Plaque 4: "Susan B. Anthony - Quaker, Pacifist Abolitionist, Feminist (1820-1908) 'If only the women of the North had educated themselves and their sons concerning the laws of justice to the black man, they would not have had to send those sons to war.'"

Sample Plaque 5: "The Jewish Prayer for Peace - Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the Most High. And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation - niether shall they learn war any more. And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken."

Sample Plaque 6: "The Sikh Prayer for Peace - God adjudges us according to our deeds, not the coat that we wear: that Truth is above everything, but higher still is truthful living. Know that we attaineth God when we loveth, and only that victory endures in consequency of which no one is defeated."


Another monument at one corner states "Unknown Civilians Killed at War." Another, short monument states, "Victims of Violence." Behind this monument is the Emily the Cow Grave and Animal Rights Monument.

Nearby is a plaque on stone that states the following:
"The Pacifist Memorial
Sherborn, Massachusetts
October 2, 1994

War will exist until that day when the Conscientious Objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.
1962 - President John F. Kennedy

Planning and Construction
[Names]

Select Committee on Nominations
[Names]

Memorial Dedication Ceremonies
[Names]"

Text on Monument/Memorial Sign or Plaque: There are sooooooo many plaques, it just is not practical to include it all there. Website about the Peace Monument/Memorial: [Web Link]

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