We must think differently, look at things in a different way.

“We must think differently, look at things in a different way. Peace requires a world of new concepts, new definitions.” Thus spoke Yitzhak Rabin, soldier of war and seeker of peace, a man who had seen the battlefield’s fire yet longed for the cool waters of reconciliation. His words are not soft musings but a command born of necessity: that peace cannot be won with the old weapons of thought, nor by clinging to the patterns that gave birth to conflict. To build peace, humanity must create new concepts and new definitions, for the language of war cannot speak the truth of reconciliation.

The ancients knew well that new ages require new visions. When Solon of Athens looked upon a city torn by inequality and strife, he did not merely repeat the decrees of kings past. He created new laws, new ideas of justice, and thus Athens was saved from collapse. So too did Rabin see that in his land, old definitions—of enemy, of victory, of honor—had brought only bloodshed. If peace was to come, it would require new ways of thinking, where enemies might become neighbors and survival might be found not in arms but in understanding.

Consider the moment when Rabin shook the hand of Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn in 1993. To many, this gesture was impossible, even unthinkable, for both men had long been symbols of their peoples’ suffering. Yet Rabin, hardened general of Israel’s wars, declared boldly, “We must fight terror as if there is no peace, and work for peace as if there is no terror.” And in extending his hand, he gave flesh to his own words: he looked at things in a different way, creating a new definition of courage—not merely the courage to fight, but the courage to forgive.

History gives us other examples. After the horror of World War II, Europe lay in ruins, divided by hatreds that had burned for centuries. Yet from the ashes rose a new vision: the European Union, built upon the radical idea that nations who had fought for centuries could tie their futures together in unity. This was not done by clinging to the old concepts of rivalry and vengeance, but by inventing new ones—cooperation, shared destiny, and economic union. Thus, former enemies became partners, proving Rabin’s truth that peace requires new definitions of what it means to be secure and prosperous.

The meaning of Rabin’s words is clear: peace is not the absence of war, but the presence of new ideas that allow former foes to coexist. It requires imagination as much as diplomacy, creativity as much as negotiation. To think differently is not weakness, but the deepest strength, for it is far easier to repeat the past than to invent the future. Rabin knew this well, and he paid the ultimate price for daring to dream of it—slain not by his enemy, but by one who could not accept his new definitions of peace.

The lesson for us, children of tomorrow, is this: if you would build peace in your own life, in your family, in your nation, you must dare to think differently. Do not cling to grudges and old divisions; instead, create new ways of seeing the other, of naming your relationship, of defining your future. Where others say “enemy,” ask if there can be another word: neighbor, partner, fellow traveler. Where others define victory as dominance, redefine it as coexistence. For only through new definitions can the cycle of strife be broken.

Practical wisdom follows: examine the conflicts in your own life. Ask yourself—am I seeing this only through the old eyes of anger, fear, or pride? Can I invent a new way of understanding, a new path that neither repeats the past nor denies the truth, but reshapes it into peace? Practice dialogue where silence has reigned, forgiveness where resentment has festered, and imagination where despair has settled.

So let the words of Yitzhak Rabin resound as both challenge and hope: “Peace requires a world of new concepts, new definitions.” Do not fear to think differently, for in new ways of thought lies the salvation of nations and the healing of souls. For only those who dare to redefine the world can lead it from the wilderness of war into the promised land of peace.