Friends, accordingly, do not vote in making decisions as a group, for since there is only one truth and this truth is, in the long run, accessible to all, a patient search for it will eventually lead to unity. This means that each person in the group is present, not to defend an opinion, but to join in a common search and a united finding. A group of scientists would not think of arriving at a scientific truth by voting. For the same reason, the Quakers do not believe that the truth of an opinion is dependent on the number of those who hold it. For this reason also, the Quakers have not usually been seriously concerned about the smallness of their own numbers, though they recognize a responsibility to convince all people of truth.
History shows that truth has generally appeared first in the possession of a small minority.
This method of arriving at decisions reveals the basis of the Quakers' peace principle, for which they are most widely known, perhaps because the peace principle is at present less generally accepted. Everyone today believes in peace, but a refusal to take any part in war or the preparation for war is an extreme to which few are willing to go. An appeal to peaceable methods is not always in the world's eye successful. Therefore, anyone who uses this appeal must be prepared for loss and suffering. But this loss and suffering also accompanies recourse to violence.