The center quote which defines my life and my intellectual suffering
"Scio Nescio" ("I know that I don't know")
Apart from that I don't live by quotes but I like some a lot, either for wisdom, entertainment or even for extreme cynizism (e.g. Stalin) which can tell us a lot about true life:
Quotes on war (were the firrst that came to my mind, odd for a pacifist somehow):
"War is the continuation of policy by other means." Karl von Clausewitz
"War does not determine who is right, only who is left" Bertrand Russel (IIRC)
"War solves every problem, no man no problem" Josef Stalin
Peace quotes (to balance it out):
"Fighting for peace is like f***ing for virginity"
Permanent good can never be the outcome of untruth and violence. -Mohandas K. Gandhi
One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
and my favourite Gandhi quote:
"In the end you will walk out (British will leave India) because 100,000 Englishmen simply cannot control 350 million Indians if those Indians refuse to cooperate, and that is what we intend to achieve. Peaceful, nonviolent, non-cooperation until you yourself see the wisdom of leaving, Your Excellency." (actually it is from the movie, but he said it in similar words on several occasions)