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I Think Over Time You Learn To Know A Bit More About Yourself - You Develop A Certain Amount Of Self-insight And Self-awareness, And You Know What You Can Absorb, And What You Cannot; What Gets To You And What Doesn't.

-Kofi Annan

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I Think Over Time

Kofi Annan

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I Think Over Time You Learn To Know A Bit More About Yourself - You Develop A Certain Amount Of Self-insight And Self-awareness, And You Know What You Can Absorb, And What You Cannot; What Gets To You And What Doesn't.

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My Intimate Knowledge Of The [un] System Allowed Me To Get Things Done Despite The Many Obstacles.

Revolution By Its Nature Can Not Be Overly Programmed Or Directed. There Are So Many Forces At Work That You Don't Know Where And How It All Ends.

Literacy Is A Bridge From Misery To Hope... Especially For Girls And Women, It Is An Agent Of Family Health And Nutrition.

One Has To Have The Strength Of Character To Say The Time Has Come To Move On... Unless You Are A King.

The World Is Not Ours To Keep. We Hold It In Trust For Future Generations.

Future Generation

Tony Blair Is A Very Able Politician; He's Perhaps One Of The Best Of His Generation. He Made A Major Contribution In Many Areas, But In Iraq I Believe He Got It Wrong. He Got It Wrong.

If You Have A Problem And You Can't Find A Solution, You Meet Again Tomorrow And You Keep Talking Until You Find A Solution. You Can Disagree With Behavior Or A Particular Position, But You Do Not Resort To Calling An Opponent Worthless.

We Need To Ensure The Poorest In The Planet - Who Will Be Hardest Hit By The Financial Crisis - Are Not Forgotten.

You Have To Develop A Certain Healthy Distance To Allow You To Keep A Clear Head, To Be Able To Analyse The Situation, Lead Your Team, And Move Forward With Them, Because There Are Times If I'm Not Careful... If You Get Too Involved, It Will Consume You; It Will Consume You, And You Will Not Be Good To Your Team; The Issues You Are Dealing With.

There Is No Tool For Development More Effective Than The Education Of Girls And The Empowerment Of Women... When Women Are Fully Involved, The Benefits Can Be Seen Immediately: Families Are Healthier; They Are Better Fed; Their Income, Savings, And Reinvestment Go Up. And What Is True Of Families Is True Of Communities And, Eventually, Whole Countries.

I Think What Gives Me Hope Is I Have The Sense That The People Of Kenya Have Turned The Page. They Are Keen To Get A New Political Dispensation. They Are Keen To Fight Corruption And Impunity, And In That Sense They Are Leaving The Political Elite Behind.

We All Make Mistakes.

Making Mistakes

We All Make Mistakes

If You Are Neutral In A Situation Where One Side Is Patently Being Mistreated, The Conclusion Is That You're Siding With This Wrong.

Professional Accountants Should Use That Influence To Encourage The Companies They Serve To Think Long Term And Integrate Sustainable Development Goals Into Their Accounting, Such As By Including A Natural Capital Account, Which I Have Heard Is Gaining Ground.

If The United Nations Does Not Attempt To Chart A Course For The World's People In The First Decades Of The New Millennium, Who Will?

Landmines Are Among The Most Barbaric Weapons Of War, Because They Continue To Kill And Maim Innocent People Long After The War Itself Has Ended. Also, Fear Of Them Keeps People Off The Land, And Thus Prevents Them From Growing Food.

If Information And Knowledge Are Central To Democracy, They Are The Conditions For Development.

The Future Of Peace And Prosperity That We Seek For All The World's Peoples Needs A Foundation Of Tolerance, Security, Equality And Justice. That Foundation Is The Family. It Is Only By Protecting Families, From Famine As Well As From Fragmentation, That They Can Prosper And Contribute To The Family Of Nations That Is The United Nations.

Fierce National Competition Over Water Resources Has Prompted Fears That Water Issues Contain The Seeds Of Violent Conflict.

Having Worked My Way From The Bottom Of The Ladder To The Top [of The Un] Certainly Helped Me Navigate That Complexity, Both Political And Bureaucratic.

More Countries Have Understood That Women's Equality Is A Prerequisite For Development.

The Happiness Of Any Society Begins With The Well Being Of The Families That Live In It.

Acquiring Literacy Is An Empowering Process, Enabling Millions To Enjoy Access To Knowledge And Information Which Broadens Horizons, Increases Opportunities And Creates Alternatives For Building A Better Life.

As One Of My Predecessors Said, Our Objective Is Not To Take People To Heaven, But To Prevent Humanity From Going To Hell.

Not Only Do These Abominable Weapons Lie Buried In Silence And In Their Millions Waiting To Kill Or Maim Innocent Women And Children; But The Presence Or Even The Fear Of The Presence Of A Single Landmine Can Prevent The Cultivation Of An Entire Field, Rob A Whole Village Of Its Livelihood, Place Yet Another Obstacle On A Country's Road To Reconstruction And Development

You Need Younger Men In Africa, Men And Women In African Politics.

A World Government Can Intervene Militarily In The Internal Affairs Of Any Nation When It Disapproves Of Their Activities.

World Government

...let Us Recognize That Extreme Poverty Anywhere Is A Threat To Human Security Everywhere. Let Us Recall That Poverty Is A Denial Of Human Rights. For The First Time In History, In This Age Of Unprecedented Wealth And Technical Prowess, We Have The Power To Save Humanity From This Shameful Scourge. Let Us Summon The Will To Do It.

I Used To Tell The Story About As A Young Man In High School One Of The Professors Came In And Put A Broad White Sheet On The Board With A Dot In The Right Hand Corner And Said, "boys, What Do You See?" And We All Shouted, A Black Dot. He Stood Back And Said, "not A Single One Of You Saw The Broad White Sheet, You All Saw The Black Dot." He Went On To Tell Us To Focus On The Broader Picture, Don't Focus On The Negative.

Often, We Take Stability - Peace In Terms Of Security And Economic Activity - To Mean A Country Is Doing Well. We Forget The Third And Important Pillar Of Rule Of Law And Respect For Human Rights, Because No Country Can Long Remain Prosperous Without That Third Pillar.

We Shall Not Defeat Any Of The Infectious Diseases That Plague The Developing World Until We Have Also Won The Battle For Safe Drinking Water, Sanitation, And Basic Health Care.

The Number One Goal In Resolving A Conflict Is To Make Sure Both Sides Maintain Their Self-esteem. You Don't Hit A Man On The Head When You've Got Your Fingers Between His Teeth.

If Our Hopes Of Building A Better And Safer World Are To Become More Than Wishful Thinking, We Will Need The Engagement Of Volunteers More Than Ever.

It Is Tragic That So Few Young People In Western Democracies Vote. They Have Forgotten That Their Ancestors Fought For The Right To Choose And Change Their Leaders. They Don't Realise That Their Votes Are More Important Than Their Tweets Or Facebook Posts.

The Problem Is This. The Spread Of Markets Outpaces The Ability Of Societies And Their Political Systems To Adjust To Them, Let Alone To Guide The Course They Take

When You Have Difficult Issues On The Table For Discussion, Then Sometimes For Africa You May Have Burundi Or Gambia Representing Them On The Security Council; And Then For Latin America You May Have A Country Like Costa Rica, Which Is A Wonderful Country But They Don't Have The Same Weight As Others From The Other Regions. And Sometimes They Get Bullied. Sometimes Their Capitals Come Under Lots Of Pressure To Take A Position.

Literacy Unlocks The Door To Learning Throughout Life, Is Essential To Development And Health, And Opens The Way For Democratic Participation And Active Citizenship.

It Is Well Known That You Can Only Manage What You Measure, And As This Is The Job Of Professional Accountants, It Means They Have Huge Influence On Companies' Governance.

Jewish People Have Been Victims Of Anti-semitism In Many Parts Of The World, And In Europe They Were The Target Of The Holocaust, The Ultimate Abomination. Yet, We Cannot Expect Palestinians To Accept This As A Reason Why The Wrongs Done To Them.

Young People Must Be Included From Birth. A Society That Cuts Itself Off From Its Youth Severs Its Lifeline; It Is Condemned To Bleed To Death.

It Is Extreme Arrogance For One To Think He Is The Only One Who Can Govern His Country And Nobody Else Can Do It. We're All Human. After 10, 15 Years You Get Tired, You Run Out Of Steam And Ideas, You Have To Give A Chance To Somebody Else. And Whether You Yourself Are Inclined To Stay On, All Those Around You Are Pushing You To Stay On For What They Will Gain. One Has To Have The Strength Of Character To Say The Time Has Come To Move On...unless You Are A King.

Nelson Mandela Stands As An Inspiration To Us All

It Is Extreme Arrogance For One To Think He...and It's Usually He, Is The Only One Who Can Govern His Country And Nobody Else Can Do It.

Any Society That Does Not Succeed In Tapping Into The Energy And Creativity Of Its Youth Will Be Left Behind.

To Build A More Healthy, Peaceful And Equitable World The Classrooms Of The World Have To Be Full Of Girls As Well As Boys.

We Have To Choose Between A Global Market Driven Only By Calculations Of Short-term Profit, And One Which Has A Human Face.

Economic Globalization

Unless The Security Council Is Restored To Its Pre-eminent Position As The Sole Source Of Legitimacy On The Use Of Force, We Are On A Dangerous Path To Anarchy.

We Need To Think Of The Future And The Planet We Are Going To Leave To Our Children And Their Children.

Gender Equality Is More Than A Goal In Itself. It Is A Precondition For Meeting The Challenge Of Reducing Poverty, Promoting Sustainable Development And Building Good Governance.

One Has To Have The Strength Of Character To Say The Time Has Come To Move On... Unless You Are A King.

If You Are Neutral In A Situation Where One Side Is Patently Being Mistreated, The Conclusion Is That You're Siding With This Wrong.

In Fact Un Is More Of A Galaxy Of Organisations And Agencies Than One Machine.

In An Era Of Globalisation, Aiesec's Programmes Have Helped Young People Around The World To Develop A Broader Understanding Of Cultural Socio-economic And Business Management Issues.

The Report [by A Un Commission On Darfur] Demonstrates Beyond All Doubt That The Last Two Years Have Been Little Short Of Hell On Earth For Our Fellow Human Beings In Darfur.

One Has To Learn From History. Quite Frankly, It Is Almost Impossible To Have A Sense Of Vision Without A Sense Of History. If History Is Learned, Then It Doesn't Have To Repeat Itself Over Generations.

Young People Should Be At The Forefront Of Global Change And Innovation. Empowered, They Can Be Key Agents For Development And Peace.

All Our Efforts To Defeat Poverty And Pursue Sustainable Development Will Be In Vain If Environmental Degradation And Natural Resource Depletion Continue Unabated.

Drugs Have Destroyed Many Lives, But Wrongheaded Governmental Policies Have Destroyed Many More. I Think It's Obvious That After 40 Years Of War On Drugs, It Has Not Worked. There Should Be Decriminalization Of Drugs.

Can The State, Which Represents The Whole Of Society And Has The Duty Of Protecting Society, Fulfill That Duty By Lowering Itself To The Level Of The Murderer, And Treating Him As He Treated Others? The Forfeiture Of Life Is Too Absolute, Too Irreversible, For One Human Being To Inflict It On Another, Even When Backed By Legal Process.

You Have To Develop A Certain Healthy Distance To Allow You To Keep A Clear Head, To Be Able To Analyse The Situation, Lead Your Team, And Move Forward With Them, Because There Are Times If I'm Not Careful... If You Get Too Involved, It Will Consume You; It Will Consume You, And You Will Not Be Good To Your Team; The Issues You Are Dealing With.

The Us-led Invasion Of Iraq Was An Illegal Act That Contravened The Un Charter.

Children Are Our Future And If We Use Them In Battle, We Are Destroying The Future. We Must Reclaim Them, Every One Of Them, One At A Time.

The Security Council Should Be Seen As The Executive Committee Of The Global Security System Set Up After World War Ii. Its Members, And Especially The Permanent 5 (p5), Have A Special Responsibility For International Peace And Security.

Security Systems

Many African Leaders Refuse To Send Their Troops On Peace Keeping Missions Abroad Because They Probably Need Their Armies To Intimidate Their Own Populations.

We Have To Be Very Clear With The Population And The Countries We Enter What We Can Do And What We Cannot Do.

We Must Bring A Message Of Solidarity, Of Mutual Respect And, Above All, Of Hope. Business Cannot Afford To Be Seen As The Problem.

Elections With Integrity Are A Challenge Everywhere, Including In The West.

We Shall Not Defeat Any Of The Infectious Diseases That Plague The Developing World Until We Have Also Won The Battle For Safe Drinking Water, Sanitation, And Basic Health Care.

My Intimate Knowledge Of The [un] System Allowed Me To Get Things Done Despite The Many Obstacles.

We Have Seen Recently, Almost Every Major Head Of State Goes To India And Says, We Believe India Should Be In The Council. They Go Back Home And Do Nothing About It. But This Cannot Be Sustained For Long. If They Want To Keep The Un As A Global Forum Where They Discuss Incidents And Take Some Meaningful Decisions, They Should [reform].

National Markets Are Held Together By Shared Values And Confidence In Certain Minimum Standards. But In The New Global Market, People Do Not Yet Have That Confidence.

[professional Accountants ] Should Be Encouraging Companies To Enhance Their Green Credentials By Switching To Renewables, And To Respect Core Labor Standards And Human Rights.

There Can Be No Doubt That These Attacks Are Deliberate Acts Of Terrorism, Carefully Planned And Coordinated And As Such I Condemn Them Utterly. Terrorism Must Be Fought Resolutely Wherever It Appears.

To Live Is To Choose.

There Is No Trust More Sacred Than The One The World Holds With Children.

We Were All Children Once. And We All Share The Desire For The Well-being Of Our Children, Which Has Always Been And Will Continue To Be The Most Universally Cherished Aspiration Of Humankind.

I Was Devastated By The Atrocious Bombings That Struck London Today. These Vicious Acts Have Cut Us All To The Core, For They Are An Attack On Humanity Itself. [7th July 2005 - On London Bombings

The Future Of Peace And Prosperity That We Seek For All The World's Peoples Needs A Foundation Of Tolerance, Security, Equality And Justice.

International Law Now Grants Rights To All Human Beings, Not Only To Citizens.

There Is No Development Strategy More Beneficial To Society As A Whole - Women And Men Alike - Than The One Which Involves Women As Central Players.

The Number One Goal In Resolving A Conflict Is To Make Sure Both Sides Maintain Their Self-esteem. You Don't Hit A Man On The Head When You've Got Your Fingers Between His Teeth.

The U.n. Power Comes From Concerted Action Of The Governments.

When You Have Difficult Issues On The Table For Discussion, Then Sometimes For Africa You May Have Burundi Or Gambia Representing Them On The Security Council; And Then For Latin America You May Have A Country Like Costa Rica, Which Is A Wonderful Country But They Don't Have The Same Weight As Others From The Other Regions. And Sometimes They Get Bullied. Sometimes Their Capitals Come Under Lots Of Pressure To Take A Position.

As One Of My Predecessors Said, Our Objective Is Not To Take People To Heaven, But To Prevent Humanity From Going To Hell.

The Other Thing That Really I Regretted Not Being Able To Do Was To Push Effectively For The Reform Of The Security Council. Because The World Was Changing, And Is Changing Very Fast, And I Felt The Un Was Holding On To Old Arrangements. Most Governments Felt That It Has Such A Narrow Power Base, Based On The Results Of The Second World War.

Literacy Is A Bridge From Misery To Hope. It Is A Tool For Daily Life In Modern Society. It Is A Bulwark Against Poverty, And A Building Block Of Development... For Everyone, Everywhere, Literacy Is, Along With Education In General, A Basic Human Right.... Literacy Is, Finally, The Road To Human Progress And The Means Through Which Every Man, Woman And Child Can Realize His Or Her Full Potential.

I Think We Can Make A Difference In The Lives Of The Poor, And The Millions.

Making A Difference

If The United Nations Does Not Attempt To Chart A Course For The World's People In The First Decades Of The New Millennium, Who Will?

Many African Leaders Refuse To Send Their Troops On Peace Keeping Missions Abroad Because They Probably Need Their Armies To Intimidate Their Own Populations.

As We Move Forward, You Cannot Resolve The Potential Food Crisis Or Shortages Without Science Being Part Of The Solution. Science Has To Be Part Of The Solution But African Governments - And These Are Decisions For Governments, Whether They Embrace Or Do Not Embrace Genetically Modified Food - And For The Moment, Most African Companies Do Not Accept Genetically Modified Seeds.

In An Era Of Globalisation, Aiesec's Programmes Have Helped Young People Around The World To Develop A Broader Understanding Of Cultural Socio-economic And Business Management Issues.

I Think The World Has Moved On.

Access To Safe Water Is A Fundamental Human Need And Therefore A Basic Human Right.

You May Have Noticed Over The Years That The Un Became A Bit More Media-friendly, A Bit More Open To The Media Than In The Past.

In The 21st Century I Believe The Mission Of The United Nations Will Be Defined By A New, More Profound, Awareness Of The Sanctity And Dignity Of Every Human Life, Regardless Of Race Or Religion.

[refugees] Cannot Be Stopped, But They Can And Must Be Managed Better, More Humanely, Protecting Migrants' Human Rights Whilst Accepting States' Rights To Control Their Borders.

If Globalization Is To Succeed, It Must Succeed For Poor And Rich Alike. It Must Deliver Rights No Less Than Riches. It Must Provide Social Justice And Equity No Less Than Economic Prosperity And Enhanced Communication.

I Urge You To Celebrate The Extraordinary Courage And Contributions Of Refugees Past And Present.

The World Has Lost A Visionary Leader, A Courageous Voice For Justice, And A Clear Moral Compass. By Showing Us That The Path To Freedom And Human Dignity Lies In Love, Wisdom And Compassion For One Another, Nelson Mandela Stands As An Inspiration To Us All.

No One Is Born A Good Citizen Or A Good Democrat Or A Good Leader; It Takes Time And Education.

Good, Healthy Democratic Societies Are Built On Three Pillars: There's Peace And Stability, Economic Development, And Respect For Rule Of Law And Human Rights. And Where All Three Are Present, You Stand A Very Good Chance Of Making A Go Of It.

Human Rights Education Is Much More Than A Lesson In Schools Or A Theme For A Day; It Is A Process To Equip People With The Tools They Need To Live Lives Of Security And Dignity. On This International Human Rights Day, Let Us Continue To Work Together To Develop And Nurture In Future Generations A Culture Of Human Rights, To Promote Freedom, Security And Peace In All Nations.

Yehudi Menuhin Was A Citizen Of The World In The Fullest Sense - One Whose Vision And Culture Gave Him A Deep Empathy With Fellow Human Beings Of Every Creed And Color.

You Need To Be Careful Not To Over-reach And Also Assess The Capacity You Have To Work With.

I Don't See A Situation Where One Side Will Win Militarily, Take Over Syria, And There Will Be Peace And Quiet, A Clean Victory.

The Global Work Of The United Nations Is Not Without Reason Compared To That Of A Family - Striving For A Common Goal In Concert With All Members For A Better Future.

If We Are To Make Poverty History, We Must Have The Active Participation Of States, Civil Society And The Private Sector, As Well As Individual Volunteers.

The Main Point In Our Report Was To Recommend Decriminalization...because Of The Way Laws Are Applied, Which Have Not Worked. We Have Applied Them For Decades And It's Got The Prisons Filled With Lots Of Young People Who Sometimes Come Out Destroyed For Having Half An Ounce... We Should Approach It Through Education And Health Issues Rather Than A Brutal Reaction... There Is Need For Change In Policy, But It Has To Start With Debate And Discussion... I Think The Whole Approach Has To Be Reviewed.

Intelligence Can Be Used To Manipulate.

How Can You Have A World Of Today Where India Is Not Represented In The Security Council; Japan, The Second Contributor, Is Not There; The Whole Continent Of Africa, Soon To Be 54 Countries, Don't Have A Single Permanent Seat; And Latin America Is Absent? It's Not Realistic.

We Tend To Look At Countries In Terms Of Failed States And Functioning States, Which Is Rather Simplistic.

The Main Point In Our Report Was To Recommend Decriminalization...because Of The Way Laws Are Applied, Which Have Not Worked. We Have Applied Them For Decades And It's Got The Prisons Filled With Lots Of Young People Who Sometimes Come Out Destroyed For Having Half An Ounce... We Should Approach It Through Education And Health Issues Rather Than A Brutal Reaction... There Is Need For Change In Policy, But It Has To Start With Debate And Discussion... I Think The Whole Approach Has To Be Reviewed.

Applaud Us When We Prevail, Correct Us When We Fail; But, Above All, Do Not Let This Indispensable, Irreplaceable Institution Wither, Languish Or Perish As A Result Of Member States' Indifference, Inattention Or Financial Starvation.

If We Do Not Get A Universal Acceptance Of The Constitution The Likelihood Of The Violence Continuing Is There. If It Had Been An Inclusive Exercise -- As When Everybody Had Embraced The Constitution And Everyone Saw His Interest Protected By The Constitution -- I Think It Would Have Been A Rallying Exercise. We Are Not There At This Stage

Sadly, A Prize For Peace Is A Rarity In This World. Most Nations Have Monuments Or Memorials To War, Bronze Salutations To Heroic Battles, Archways Of Triumph. But Peace Has No Parade, No Pantheon Of Victory.

In The Past We Could Afford A Long Gestation Period Before Undertaking Major Environmental Policy Initiatives. Today The Time For A Well-planned Transition To A Sustainable System Is Running Out. We May Be Moving In The Right Direction, But We Are Moving Too Slowly. We Are Failing In Our Responsibility To Future Generations And Even The Present One.

...let Us Continue To Work Together To Develop And Nurture In Future Generations A Culture Of Human Rights, To Promote Freedom, Security And Peace In All Nations.

Working Together

You Will Recall That For Months After 9/11, There Was Incredible Support And Sympathy For The Us. I Really Hoped And Wished They Had Played On That, And Kept All These Friends They Had Made, And Found A Way Of Dealing With The Terrorists Through Co-operation Of International Intelligence Services, Police Exchange Of Information.

Intelligence Services

If You Have A Problem And You Can't Find A Solution, You Meet Again Tomorrow And You Keep Talking Until You Find A Solution. You Can Disagree With Behavior Or A Particular Position, But You Do Not Resort To Calling An Opponent Worthless.

The World Has Lost A Visionary Leader, A Courageous Voice For Justice, And A Clear Moral Compass. By Showing Us That The Path To Freedom And Human Dignity Lies In Love, Wisdom And Compassion For One Another, Nelson Mandela Stands As An Inspiration To Us All.

Violence Against Women Is Perhaps The Most Shameful Human Rights Violation, And It Is Perhaps The Most Pervasive. It Knows No Boundaries Of Geography, Culture Or Wealth. As Long As It Continues, We Cannot Claim To Be Making Real Progress Towards Equality, Development And Peace

His Holiness Brings A Wealth Of Experience To This Exalted Office. The United Nations And The Holy See Share A Strong Commitment To Peace, Social Justice, Human Dignity, Religious Freedom And Mutual Respect Among The World's Religions.

However Much One Tries To Suppress The Will Of The People They Eventually Will Have The Last Word.

My Own Advice To People Who Would Be In Office For Two Or Three Terms Is That They Must Accept Democratic Rotation. Ideally Not Put Themselves Up For Re-election And Allow The System To Work.

Above All Else, We Need A Reaffirmation Of Political Commitment At The Highest Levels To Reducing The Dangers That Arise Both From Existing Nuclear Weapons And From Further Proliferation.

Nuclear Disarmament

Whether Our Task Is Fighting Poverty, Stemming The Spread Of Disease Or Saving Innocent Lives From Mass Murder, We Have Seen That We Cannot Succeed Without The Leadership Of The Strong And The Engagement Of All.

One Of My Biggest Regrets Was The Fact That As An Institution And An International Community We Could Not Stop The War In Iraq. That Really Was Very Difficult And Very Painful. Every Fibre In My Body Felt It Was Wrong. I Spoke To Leaders, We Spoke To People, We Tried... We Couldn't Stop It... And We See The Results.

We Have The Means And The Capacity To Deal With Our Problems, If Only We Can Find The Political Will.

Can The State, Which Represents The Whole Of Society And Has The Duty Of Protecting Society, Fulfill That Duty By Lowering Itself To The Level Of The Murderer, And Treating Him As He Treated Others? The Forfeiture Of Life Is Too Absolute, Too Irreversible, For One Human Being To Inflict It On Another, Even When Backed By Legal Process.

I Think That In The West, Many Citizens, Especially Younger Citizens, Take Their Freedoms And Institutions For Granted And Focus On Their Frustrations With Their Governments' Inability To Solve Pressing Problems.

Education Is A Human Right With Immense Power To Transform. On Its Foundation Rest The Cornerstones Of Freedom, Democracy And Sustainable Human Development.

Democracies Have

Justice Has Taken Its Course And The Authority And Legitimacy Of The Legal Process Must Be Respected.

No One Is Born A Good Citizen Or A Good Democrat Or A Good Leader; It Takes Time And Education.

Elections With Integrity Are A Challenge Everywhere, Including In The West.

The Reality Is That No Group Of Countries Has Any Grounds For Complacency About Its Own Human Rights Performance And No Group Of Countries Does Itself Justice By Automatically Slipping Into The "victim" Mode . . . .

We Have The Means And The Capacity To Deal With Our Problems, If Only We Can Find The Political Will.

Some Have Suggested That Ideally There Must Be Some International Body That Would Treat Areas Like The Arctic As A Global Commerce, A Bit Like The Way We Treat The Sea. It Doesn't Belong To Any Particular Country, But To All Of Us, But I'm Not Sure Some Of The Powerful Are Ready For That Sort Of Solution.

Normally When People Resign They Will Organise Their Champagne Farewell Parties... And Then They Resurface Somewhere.

I Think The Generational Change Is Going To Be So Important For Africa That We Really Should Encourage And Push It As Much As We Can, Because Some Of These Younger Men And Women, Who Are Men And Women Of Their Times, And Are Also Connected To The Rest Of The World, Wouldn't Even Know How To Behave In The Way Some Of The Old Leaders Do.

The Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq Is Illegal.

The United Nations, Whose Membership Comprises Almost All The States In The World, Is Founded On The Principle Of The Equal Worth Of Every Human Being.

If We Can Come Up With Innovations And Train Young People To Take On New Jobs, And If We Can Switch To Clean Energy, I Think We Have The Capacity To Build This World Not Dependent On Fossil-fuel. I Think It Will Happen, And It Won't Destroy Economy.

It's Always A Difficult Time To Be Secretary General.

Difficult Times

... The Long-lasting Humanitarian Impact Of These Inhuman Weapons Continues To Deny Communities The Opportunity To Rebuild Long After The End Of The Conflicts.

The Un Doesn't Work In A Vacuum.

We Knew The Syrian Situation Was Complex And There Were Lots Of Divisions, Particularly On The Side Of The Opposition... This Is A Tough Job... It Can Perhaps Be Done If You Stand United And Work With Me In Putting Sustained Pressure On The Protagonists Or The Parties To Come Together And Seek A Political Settlement.

To Live Is To Choose. But To Choose Well, You Must Know Who You Are And What You Stand For, Where You Want To Go And Why You Want To Get There.

Contrary To Popular Belief, We Do Not Face A Choice Between Economy And Ecology, It Is Often Said That Protecting The Environment Would Constrain Or Even Undermine Economic Growth. In Fact, The Opposite Is True: Unless We Protect Resources And The Earth's Natural Capital, We Shall Not Be Able To Sustain Economic Growth.

It Is Extreme Arrogance For One To Think He Is The Only One Who Can Govern His Country And Nobody Else Can Do It. We're All Human. After 10, 15 Years You Get Tired, You Run Out Of Steam And Ideas, You Have To Give A Chance To Somebody Else. And Whether You Yourself Are Inclined To Stay On, All Those Around You Are Pushing You To Stay On For What They Will Gain. One Has To Have The Strength Of Character To Say The Time Has Come To Move On...unless You Are A King.

Today, No Walls Can Separate Humanitarian Or Human Rights Crises In One Part Of The World From National Security Crises In Another. What Begins With The Failure To Uphold The Dignity Of One Life All Too Often Ends With A Calamity For Entire Nations.

For Everyone, Everywhere, Literacy Is, Along With Education In General, A Basic Human Right.

When So Many Lives Are At Risk, When So Much Killing Is Going On, When There's So Much Chaos And Suffering, Isn't The Risk Warranted? ... And If We Don't Take The Risk Of Coming To The Conference, What Do We Do? We Let It Continue?

Usually, When You Look Around The World, People Are Killing Each Other, Fighting Over Scarce Resources.

If There Is One Area Where Equity Is Crucial And Essential, I Think It Should Be The Issue Of Water.

Over Time You Learn To Know A Bit More About Yourself - You Develop A Certain Amount Of Self-insight And Self-awareness, And You Know What You Can Absorb, And What You Cannot; What Gets To You And What Doesn't. And I Observe A Lot. I See A Lot Around Me. And Over Time You Also Get To Understand The Nature Of Man And The Environments You Are Dealing With, And You Can't Always Allow Emotions And Temper To Flare Up Because You're Displeased With Something, Or You Want To Change It.

Microfinance Recognizes That Poor People Are Remarkable Reservoirs Of Energy And Knowledge

Most People Forget That Even In Iraq, By The Time The Air And No-fly Zone Was Established, The Air Defence System Had Been Removed Through The First Gulf War. All Of Them Had Been Neutralised.

I Have Often Said That We Have Two Uns; The Un That Is A Secretariat, That Implements The Mandates Handed Over To It By The General Assembly And The Security Council, And The Un That Is The Member States Who Sit In The Council, Take The Decisions, Hand Over The Mandates, Or Take Decisions In The General Assembly.

Justice Has Taken Its Course And The Authority And Legitimacy Of The Legal Process Must Be Respected.

We May Have Different Religions, Different Languages, Different Colored Skin, But We All Belong To One Human Race.

If We Do Not Get A Universal Acceptance Of The Constitution The Likelihood Of The Violence Continuing Is There. If It Had Been An Inclusive Exercise -- As When Everybody Had Embraced The Constitution And Everyone Saw His Interest Protected By The Constitution -- I Think It Would Have Been A Rallying Exercise. We Are Not There At This Stage

Tony Blair Is A Very Able Politician; He's Perhaps One Of The Best Of His Generation. He Made A Major Contribution In Many Areas, But In Iraq I Believe He Got It Wrong. He Got It Wrong.

It Has Been Said That Arguing Against Globalization Is Like Arguing Against The Laws Of Gravity.

Economic Globalization

The Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq Is Illegal.

In Their Greatest Hour Of Need, The World Failed The People Of Rwanda.

Nuclear Terrorism Is Still Often Treated As Science Fiction. I Wish It Were. But Unfortunately We Live In A World Of Excess Hazardous Materials And Abundant Technological Know-how, In Which Some Terrorists Clearly State Their Intention To Inflict Catastrophic Casualties. Were Such An Attack To Occur, It Would Not Only Cause Widespread Death And Destruction, But Would Stagger The World Economy... [creating] A Second Death Toll Throughout The Developing World.

Nuclear Terrorism

I Think The Us And Uk Thought If They Gave A Bit More Time To Israel, They Would Crush Hezbollah. But It Became Very Obvious That Was An Unwinnable War.

It Is True That The Principle Of National Citizenship, Associated With Rights, And The Control Of A Country's Borders Are Two Key Aspects Of Modern 'sovereign' Nation States As They Emerged In The Westphalian Order. But There Has Been Much Progress Since 1648.

In Their Greatest Hour Of Need, The World Failed The People Of Rwanda.

Ignorance And Prejudice Are The Handmaidens Of Propaganda. Our Mission, Therefore, Is To Confront Ignorance With Knowledge, Bigotry With Tolerance, And Isolation With The Outstretched Hand Of Generosity. Racism Can, Will, And Must Be Defeated.

Have Confidence In The Young People, Give Them A Chance, And They Will Surprise You.

I Hope We Do Not See Another Iraq-type Operation For A Long Time - Without Un Approval And Much Broader Support From The International Community.

Asked Whether Donor Nations May Be Becoming Fatigued ... The Fatigue May Be There, But I Don't Think We Can Justify It In The Face Of Such Misery. We May Need To Wake Up Our Conscience And Our Conscience Must Force Us To Act.

Ignorance And Prejudice Are The Handmaidens Of Propaganda. Our Mission, Therefore, Is To Confront Ignorance With Knowledge, Bigotry With Tolerance, And Isolation With The Outstretched Hand Of Generosity. Racism Can, Will, And Must Be Defeated.

Iraq Has A New Opportunity To Comply With All These Relevant Resolutions Of The Security Council.

I Was An Ordinary Boy At School, A Young Man. In Fact, What Did The Headmaster Once Say? "you're Constantly Challenging Those In Authority; Questioning And Challenging Those In Authority." Which Was Not Really The Way I Saw It. I Felt There Were Questions That Had To Be Answered, And Things That Weren't Quite Right.

Sometimes When You Take A Tough Action Against One Side In The Conflict, They See You As Part Of The Conflict And They Attack You.

No One Is Born A Good Citizen; No Nation Is Born A Democracy. Rather, Both Are Processes That Continue To Evolve Over A Lifetime. Young People Must Be Included From Birth. A Society That Cuts Off From Its Youth Severs Its Lifeline.

Literacy Is A Bridge From Misery To Hope.

The United Nations Has Long Recognised That The Imagination, Ideals And Energies Of Young Men And Women Are Vital For The Continuing Development Of The Societies In Which They Live. And Since Its Inception In 1948, Aiesec Has Contributed To This Development By Serving As An Agent Of Positive Change Trough Education And Cultural Exchange.

Let Us Remember The Large Numbers Of Citizens Who, Day In And Day Out, Through Acts Of Volunteerism Large And Small, Bring Hope To So Many Of The World's Disadvantaged. Let Us Ensure That This Wonderful Resource, Available In Abundance To Every Nation, Is Recognized And Supported As It Works Towards A More Prosperous And Peaceful World.

The Right To Development Is The Measure Of The Respect Of All Other Human Rights.that Should Be Our Aim: A Situation In Which All Individuals Are Enabled To Maximize Their Potential, And To Contribute To The Evolution Of Society As A Whole.

To Live Is To Choose.

Education Is A Human Right With Immense Power To Transform. On Its Foundation Rest The Cornerstones Of Freedom, Democracy And Sustainable Human Development.

Democracies Have

It May Seem Sometimes As If A Culture Of Peace Does Not Stand A Chance Against The Culture Of War, The Culture Of Violence And The Cultures Of Impunity And Intolerance. Peace May Indeed Be A Complex Challenge, Dependent On Action In Many Fields And Even A Bit Of Luck From Time To Time. It May Be A Painfully Slow Process, And Fragile And Imperfect When It Is Achieved. But Peace Is In Our Hands. We Can Do It.

The Un Was Very Media-shy, And Its Relationship With The Press Was Very Controlled; Although Periodically I Spoke To The Press, The Rule Was, Only The Secretary-general Speaks To The Press; Only The Secretary-general Makes... So You Would See Many Situations Where Under-secretaries-general Would Come In And Speak. I Opened That, And I Encouraged All Of Them To Speak In Their Areas, Whether It Was Peacekeeping Or Humanitarian Efforts.

Business, Labor And Civil Society Organizations Have Skills And Resources That Are Vital In Helping To Build A More Robust Global Community.

These Divisions In The International Community - The Syrians Bear Quite A Lot Of The Blame, But We Have Enabled It By The Divisions Between Us.

Women Themselves Have The Right To Live In Dignity, In Freedom From Want And Freedom From Fear. On This International Women's Day, Let Us Rededicate Ourselves To Making That A Reality.

I Spent My Youth And My Most Formative Years In Africa. I Left Africa When I Was About 20, 21, And When Mo Says A Great African, I Was Really Moulded By My African Experience, Although I Had The Good Fortune That By The Time I Was 24 I Had Studied And Worked On Three Continents - Africa, The Us, And Europe.

When Things Are Really Desperate And Hopeless And You Can't Do Anything About This, And There's A Sense That Something Must Be Done, That Is Something Usually Leads To The U.n.

Each Crisis Is Different, Has Its Own Specificities, And We Need To Look At It Critically; Look At Each One In Its Own Terms.

It Is Not In The United Nations That The Millennium Development Goals Will Be Achieved. They Have To Be Achieved In Each Of Its Member States, By The Joint Efforts Of Their Governments And People.

In An Age Of Interdependence, Global Citizenship - Based On Trust And Sense Of Shared Responsibility - Is A Crucial Pillar Of Progress. At A Time When More Than One Billion People Are Denied The Very Minimum Requirements Of Human Dignity, Business Cannot Afford To Be Seen As The Problem. Rather, It Must Work With Governments And All Other Actors In Society To Mobilize Global Science, Technology And Knowledge To Tackle The Interlocking Crises Of Hunger, Disease, Environmental Degradation And Conflict That Are Holding Back The Developing World.

Peace Is Never A Perfect Achievement.

This Is An Historic Step Forward In The World's Efforts To Combat A Truly Global Threat.

If We Get Agriculture Right In Africa, Where Most Of The People Now Are Working In That Sector, Not Only Would It Help Boost Development But We Will Be Secure In Terms Of Food And Nutrition And Then Be Able To Move On To Other Areas.

Human Beings Are Not Property. On The International Day For The Abolition Of Slavery, Let Us Reaffirm The Inherent Dignity Of All Men, Women And Children. And Let Us Redouble Our Efforts So That The Words Of The Universal Declaration Of Human Rights - 'no One Shall Be Held In Slavery Or Servitude' - Ring True.

Slavery Was, In A Very Real Sense, The First International Human Rights Issue To Come To The Fore. It Led To The Adoption Of The First Human Rights Laws And To The Creation Of The First Human Rights Non-governmenta L Organization. And Yet Despite The Efforts Of The International Community To Combat This Abhorrent Practice, It Is Still Widely Prevalent In All Its Insidious Forms, Old And New.

Depending On Where You Live, Your Threat Is Much Different From The Other Person. If You Ask A New Yorker Today, Because Of The Way The Press Plays It, He Will Say Terrorism Is His Biggest Fear. But For Somebody Living On A Small Island State, Then It Is Climate Change, The Rise Of The Sea Level, For His Whole Island May Be Washed Away. If I Go To Southern Africa, They Tell Me It Is Hiv/aids And Somewhere In Asia It Is Poverty. This Is Also Why You Will Find It Difficult To Find Agreements, Because If You Want Someone To Be Concerned About Your Threat, Then You Should Be Concerned About His.

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Ezekiel Emanuel

Clifford D. Simak

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