The greatest conflicts are not between two people but between one person and himself.

The line frames struggle as primarily internal: the most consequential battles are fought within a single person’s conscience, desires, fears, and self-image rather than in open disputes with others. It suggests that external conflicts often mirror unresolved inner tensions—between what one wants and what one believes is right, between ambition and restraint, or between the self one presents and the self one feels. Read this way, the quote emphasizes self-mastery as a prerequisite for peace and integrity: winning arguments or defeating rivals matters less than confronting one’s own contradictions and making choices aligned with one’s values.