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

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

Understanding the Quote: "one has to have the strength of character to say the time..."

This quote by Kofi Annan reflects deeply on the theme of kings. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Kings, Moving, Character, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Kofi Annan interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Kofi Annan

Kofi Annan is celebrated for insightful thoughts on kings and moving. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

Views: 89071
Topic
Kings
Moving
Character
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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.
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Peace
War
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Long
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People
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Many African Leaders Refuse To Send Their Troops On Peace Keeping Missions Abroad Because They Probably Need Their Armies To Intimidate Their Own Populations.
Army
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Troops
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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.
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The Un Doesn't Work In A Vacuum.
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It Is Impossible To Realize Our Goals While Discriminating Against Half The Human Race. As Study After Study Has Taught Us, There Is No Tool For Development More Effective Than The Empowerment Of Women.
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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.
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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.
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People
Fierce National Competition Over Water Resources Has Prompted Fears That Water Issues Contain The Seeds Of Violent Conflict.
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Competition
Justice Has Taken Its Course And The Authority And Legitimacy Of The Legal Process Must Be Respected.
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Justice
Authority
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.
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Society
Development
Let Us All Reaffirm Our Commitment To Improving The Well- Being Of Families Throughout The World.
Family
Commitment
World
The War On Drugs Has Failed In West Africa And Around The World
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Drug
World
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Country
Mean
Rights
Neutrality Is A Tough Call For The Weaker Ones.
Neutrality
Tough
One Has To Have The Strength Of Character To Say The Time Has Come To Move On... Unless You Are A King.
Kings
Moving
Character
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.
Winning
Victory
Sides
This Is A Day On Which We Pay Our Respects To Those Who Have Endured The Unimaginable. This Is An Occasion For The World To Speak Up Against The Unspeakable. It Is Long Overdue That A Day Be Dedicated To Remembering And Supporting The Many Victims And Survivors Of Torture Around The World.
Long
Survivor
World
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.
Country
Latin
America
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.
Thinking
Goal
Long
Remembering Is A Necessary Rebuke To Those Who Say The Holocaust Never Happened Or Has Been Exaggerated.
Holocaust
Remember
Exaggeration
The Lord Had The Wonderful Advantage Of Being Able To Work Alone.
Able
Wonderful
Lord
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Keys
Priorities
Vision
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.
Regret
War
Iraq
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Rights
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Bridges
Full Potential
For Too Long The Development Debate Has Ignored The Fact That Poverty Tends To Be Characterized Not Only By Material Insufficiency But Also By Denial Of Rights. What Is Needed Is A Rights-based Approach To Development. Ensuring Essential Political, Economic And Social Entitlements And Human Dignity For All People Provides The Rationale For Policy. These Are Not A Luxury Affordable Only To The Rich And Powerful But An Indispensable Component Of National Development Efforts.
Powerful
Rights
Luxury
It Has Been Said That Arguing Against Globalization Is Like Arguing Against The Laws Of Gravity.
Reality
Law
Economic Globalization
We Can Love What We Are, Without Hating What, And Who, We Are Not.
Hate
Who We Are
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.
Frustration
Thinking
Government
Democracy Is, In Essence, A Form Of Non-violent Conflict Management. If War Is The Worst Enemy Of Development, Healthy And Balanced Development Is The Best Form Of Conflict Prevention.
War
Essence
Worst Enemy
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.
September 11
Doubt
Terrorism
Young People Should Be At The Forefront Of Global Change And Innovation. Empowered, They Can Be Key Agents For Development And Peace.
Keys
People
Innovation
In Countries Where Democracy Is Either Non-existent Or In Development, On The Other Hand, Citizens Crave Those Freedoms. Maybe That Is One Lesson Western Citizens Can Learn From Those Countries: Treasure What You Have. Use Your Rights And Freedoms To Effect The Change You Want.
Country
Rights
Hands
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.
War
Air
Iraq
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.
Country
Thinking
Arrogance
The Invasion And Occupation Of Iraq Is Illegal.
Iraq
Occupation
Invasion
I've Been Around Enough To Realise That There Are Two Things That Once People Have Them, They Don't Want To Give Up, And It's Extremely Difficult To Convince Them To Give Up: One Is Privileges, And The Other Is Subsidies.
Giving Up
Two
People
We Need To Keep Hope Alive And Strive To Do Better.
Needs
Alive
Strive
On This International Day Of Un Peacekeepers, Let Us Pay Tribute To The Men And Women From Countries Across The World Who Serve Selflessly, Tirelessly And Fearlessly In Un Peacekeeping Operations. Let Us Remember The Heroes Who Have Laid Down Their Lives In Lands Far From Their Own In The Service Of Peace. And Let Us Reaffirm Our Commitment To Building A World Free From The Scourge Of War.
Country
War
Hero
We Need To Promote Greater Tolerance And Understanding Among The Peoples Of The World. Nothing Can Be More Dangerous To Our Efforts To Build Peace And Development Than A World Divided Along Religious, Ethnic Or Cultural Lines. In Each Nation, And Among All Nations, We Must Work To Promote Unity Based On Our Shared Humanity.
Religious
Effort
Understanding
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.
War
Thinking
Years
I Have Always Believed That On Important Issues, The Leaders Must Lead. Where The Leaders Fail To Lead, And People Are Really Concerned About It, The People Will Take The Lead And Make The Leaders Follow.
Issues
People
Leader
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.
Cutting
People
Youth
Let Us, Above All, Be Clear That, Without A Convincing Program Of Debt Relief To Start The New Millennium, Our Objective Of Halving World Poverty By 2015 Will Be Only A Pipe Dream.
Dream
Relief
Debt
The Lord Had The Wonderful Advantage Of Being Able To Work Alone. Answering Why He Had Not Implemented Organizational Reforms After Five Months When 'god Created The Universe In Seven Day
Work
Reform
Able
It Is Impossible To Realize Our Goals While Discriminating Against Half The Human Race. As Study After Study Has Taught Us, There Is No Tool For Development More Effective Than The Empowerment Of Women.
Taught Us
Race
Goal
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
Political
Problem
Guides
More Than Ever Before In Human History, We Share A Common Destiny. We Can Master It Only If We Face It Together. And That, My Friends, Is Why We Have The United Nations.
Destiny
Together
Faces
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.
Communication
Rights
Justice
The Problem Is Not With The Faith, But With The Faithful
Faithful
Problem
... The Long-lasting Humanitarian Impact Of These Inhuman Weapons Continues To Deny Communities The Opportunity To Rebuild Long After The End Of The Conflicts.
Opportunity
Impact
Long
Children Are Our Future, And Their Mothers Are Its Guardians.
Mother
Children
Guardian
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.
Believe
Race
Profound
There Is No Trust More Sacred Than The One The World Holds With Children.
Respect
Peace
Children
I Believe That Our World Needs An Instrument Of Global Action As Never Before In History. I Believe That The United Nations Is The Instrument For Securing Peace And For Giving People Everywhere, In Poorer Countries As In Richer, A Real Stake In That Peace By Promoting Development And Encouraging Cooperation. But The United Nations Is Only An Instrument, An Actor In Need Of Props And Cues From Its Directors, And So I Will Paraphrase Winston Churchill: Give Us The Tools-the Trust, The Authority And The Means-and We Will Do The Job.
Trust
Country
Jobs
When Women Thrive, All Of Society Benefits, And Succeeding Generations Are Given A Better Start In Life.
Women
Generations
Benefits
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.
Years
Two
Doubt
Perhaps The Single Most Successful International Agreement To Date Has Been The Montreal Protocol.
Successful
Agreement
Montreal
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.
Communication
Rights
Justice
I Can't Think Of A 30- Or 40-year-old Who Can Behave Like Mugabe. They Wouldn't Even Know Where To Begin, And Given Their Own Educational Exposure, I Think It Will Be Very Positive For Africa.
Educational
Thinking
Years
All Our Efforts To Defeat Poverty And Pursue Sustainable Development Will Be In Vain If Environmental Degradation And Natural Resource Depletion Continue Unabated.
Effort
Environmental
Degradation
...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.
Teamwork
Rights
Working Together
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.
Girl
Country
Community
Un Is Made Even More Complex By The Constant Interplay Of Politics And Bureaucracy And Can Certainly Be Bewildering For A Novice.
Novices
Made
Bureaucracy
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?
People
Doe
World
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.
Men
Imagination
Long
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.
Frustration
Thinking
Government
On This International Day Of Peace, Let Us All Honor Those Who Have Suffered From Violence. Let Us Hold In Our Hearts The Ideal Of Peace.
Peace
Heart
Honor
If The United Nations Is Not As United As It Should Be, That Is Because It Is A Reflection Of The World We Live In.
Reflection
World
Should
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.
Women
Reality
Want
On This International Day Of Un Peacekeepers, Let Us Pay Tribute To The Men And Women From Countries Across The World Who Serve Selflessly, Tirelessly And Fearlessly In Un Peacekeeping Operations. Let Us Remember The Heroes Who Have Laid Down Their Lives In Lands Far From Their Own In The Service Of Peace. And Let Us Reaffirm Our Commitment To Building A World Free From The Scourge Of War.
Country
War
Hero
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.
War
Land
Long
We Must Ensure That The Global Market Is Embedded In Broadly Shared Values And Practices That Reflect Global Social Needs, And That All The World's People Share The Benefits Of Globalization.
Practice
People
Economic Globalization
Tolerance, Inter-cultural Dialogue And Respect For Diversity Are More Essential Than Ever In A World Where Peoples Are Becoming More And More Closely Interconnected.
Diversity
Tolerance
Essentials
Let Us All Reaffirm Our Commitment To Improving The Well- Being Of Families Throughout The World.
Family
Commitment
World
If There Is One Area Where Equity Is Crucial And Essential, I Think It Should Be The Issue Of Water.
Thinking
Issues
Water
Business Cannot Prosper In Societies That Fail.
Failing
If One Is Going To Err, One Should Err On The Side Of Liberty And Freedom.
Liberty
Sides
Should
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.
Helping Others
Thinking
Volunteer
There Has To Be A Force On The Horizon That Can Come Very Quickly. But The Way We Run And Fund Peacekeeping, This Capacity Is Unavailable.
Running
Horizon
Way
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 . . . .
Country
Reality
Rights
We Can Love What We Are, Without Hating What, And Who, We Are Not.
Hate
Who We Are
The Death Toll From Small Arms Dwarfs That Of All Other Weapons Systems — And In Most Years Greatly Exceeds The Toll Of The Atomic Bombs That Devastated Hiroshima And Nagasaki. In Terms Of The Carnage They Cause, Small Arms, Indeed, Could Well Be Described As 'weapons Of Mass Destruction'.
Hiroshima And Nagasaki
Mass Destruction
Years
Access To Safe Water Is A Fundamental Human Need And Therefore A Basic Human Right.
Water
Needs
Fundamentals
One Has To Have The Strength Of Character To Say The Time Has Come To Move On... Unless You Are A King.
Kings
Moving
Character
Sometimes I Walk Into A Situation And I Know Somebody Is Going To Provoke Me - Not Maybe, I Know He Will Provoke Me - I Know He Will Provoke Me! And There Are Times When I Simply Refuse To Be Provoked. And The Other Times You Have To Use That Superior Knowledge To Carry On At Work Without Distraction, And Don't Allow Yourself To Be Distracted. I Laugh A Lot Inside And Outside, And At Myself Sometimes.
Laughing
Use
Sometimes
We Must Restore The Sacredness Of The Family As A Bedrock Of Humane Values Everywhere, In Peace As Well As In War.
Family
War
Home
You Can Do A Lot With Diplomacy, But With Diplomacy Backed Up By Force You Can Get A Lot More Done.
Done
Force
Diplomacy
I Am Often Asked What Can People Do To Become A Good Global Citizen? I Reply That It Begins In Your Own Community.
People
Community
Citizens
In The Rush For Justice It Is Important Not To Lose Sight Of Principles The Country Holds Dear.
Country
Sight
Justice
The Future Of Peace And Prosperity That We Seek For All The World's Peoples Needs A Foundation Of Tolerance, Security, Equality And Justice.
Future
Justice
Tolerance
Our Biggest Challenge In This New Century Is To Take An Idea That Seems Abstract - Sustainable Development - And Turn It Into A Reality For All The World's People
Future
Reality
Ideas
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.
Jobs
Party
Political
You Are Never Too Young To Lead.
Young
Trending Author
Sam Snead
Vladimir Lenin
Frank Auerbach
Bob Kane
Hal Holbrook
William Throsby Bridges
Category
Information