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The Dilemma Of Our Age Is The Combination Of Unprecedented Material Progress And Systematic Spiritual Decline. The Decline In Public And Private Morality Can Be Witnessed In The Marketplace As Well As The Forums Of International Diplomacy. In The Past, A Man's Honor And Reputation Were His Most Valuable Assets. Business Agreements Were Made With A Handshake. Today One Might Be Well Advised To Check The "bottom Line" And Read The "small Print."

-King Hussein I

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The Dilemma Of Our

King Hussein I

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The Dilemma Of Our Age Is The Combination Of Unprecedented Material Progress And Systematic Spiritual Decline. The Decline In Public And Private Morality Can Be Witnessed In The Marketplace As Well As The Forums Of International Diplomacy. In The Past, A Man's Honor And Reputation Were His Most Valuable Assets. Business Agreements Were Made With A Handshake. Today One Might Be Well Advised To Check The "bottom Line" And Read The "small Print."

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More From King Hussein I

It Is My Firm Belief That I Have A Link With The Past And A Responsibility To The Future. I Cannot Give Up. I Cannot Despair. There's A Whole Future, Generations To Come. I Have To Keep Trying.

Jordan Seeks To Play Only One Role, That Of A Model State. It Is Our Aim To Set An Example For Our Arab Brethren, Not One That They Need Follow But One That Will Inspire Them To Seek A Higher, Happier Destiny Within Their Own Borders.

For Our Part, We Shall Continue To Work For The New Dawn When All The Children Of Abraham And Their Descendants Are Living Together In The Birthplace Of Their Three Great Monotheistic Religions, A Life Free From Fear, A Life Free From Want - A Life In Peace.

Jordan Has A Strange, Haunting Beauty And A Sense Of Timelessness. Dotted With The Ruins Of Empires Once Great, It Is The Last Resort Of Yesterday In The World Of Tomorrow. I Love Every Inch Of It.

I Am Ever Mindful Of The Legacy Of My Grandfather, The Founder Of This Kingdom, Who Had Said To Me That He Perceived His Life As A Link In A Continuous Chain Of Those Who Served Our Nation And That He Expected Me To Be A New And Strong Link In The Same Chain.

Fundamentalism As It Is Called Is Not Confined To The Muslim World. It Is Something That We Have Seen In Different Parts Of The World. Let Us Hope That A Dialogue Between The Followers Of The Three Great Monotheistic Religions Could Help In Putting An End To This.

We Should Face Reality And Our Past Mistakes In An Honest, Adult Way. Boasting Of Glory Does Not Make Glory, And Singing In The Dark Does Not Dispel Fear.

Without Peace And Without The Overwhelming Majority Of People That Believe In Peace Defending It, Working For It, Believing In It, Security Can Never Really Be A Reality.

It Should Not Be Strange That The Values Cherished By All The Three Major Religions Are The Same, Since They Originate From A Common Source. For Example, Islam, The Predominant Religion In The Middle East, Accepts As An Integral Part Of Its Religious Teachings Both The Old And The New Testaments. If This Commonality Of Moral Traditions Among The World's Major Religions Does Not Say Something About The Universality Of Religion, It Does Say Something About The Universality Of Mankind.

We Believe Democracy To Be The Only Real Guarantor Of Stability And We Have Sought To Create A 'jordanian Model' That Might Also Inspire Others In Our Region. I Wish Democracy And Peace To Be My Legacy To My People And The Shield Of Generations To Come.

God Help Us From Those Who Believe That They Are The Sole Possessors Of Truth. How We Manage At Times To Agree Willingly To Become Prisoners Within Our Own Minds And Souls Of Beliefs And Ideas On Which We Can Never Be Flexible.

In The Peace Process, The Partner Doesn't Just Sit And Allow Things To Deteriorate To The Point Of Disaster. The United States Is Needed With Thoughts And With Ideas, Not Only With The Attitude Of A Messenger Between Parties, But - When Things Get Rough - To Come In And Help With What Is Just And What Is Right, To Overcome Difficulty.

Nothing Is More Useless In Developing A Nation's Economy Than A Gun, And Nothing Blocks The Road To Social Development More Than The Financial Burden Of War. War Is The Arch Enemy Of National Progress And The Modern Scourge Of Civilized Man.

We Respect Opposition To Any Position Or Policy. But We Believe That The Opinion That Should Prevail And Be Respected Is That Of The Majority.

What Does A Man Seek In This World? A Position, Or A Throne? Man Seeks Peace Of Mind And The Fear Of Almighty God. As Long As One Knows That There Is Ajudgement Day, He Tries To Keep His Conscience Clear And Do What He Can.

Personality Is Reduced And Deformed With Depleted Thoughts And Stagnant Mind.

Let Me Say This Loud And Clear. There Is A World Of Difference Between Terrorist Acts And The Islamic Shari'a. Islam Is Not Only A Religion, But A Way Of Life. And At Its Heart Lie The Sacred Principles Of Tolerance And Dialogue.

It Would Behoove The World To Become Used To This Fact: That Without A Just Solution To The Palestine Tragedy, There Can Be No Stable Peace In The Middle East.

The Link Between Peace And Stability On The One Hand, And Social And Economic Growth On The Other, Is Dialectic. Peace, Poverty, And Backwardness Cannot Mix In One Region.

God Willing, We Shall Come To A Stage Where The World Looks At The Palestinian Question, And Palestinian Rights On Palestinian National Soil, As Well As The Questions Of The Occupied Syrian And Lebanese Territories. These Are The Bases On Which Peace Will Be Built.

I Will Never Work Merely To Make A Reputation For Myself, To Be Popular For Appearances Rather Than For What I Am. My Task Is To Lead My Country Through Service.

One Of The Great Challenges You Will Face Is That A Part Of The World, And Some In It, Do Not Have Or Do Not Believe In A Standard Of Moral Values. Many In The World Today Operate On The Basis Of Practical Expediency. You Have Undoubtedly Observed This Yourselves. It Has Become A Philosophy Of Life For Many. This Is True Among Nations As Well As Among Individuals.

God Is The One Who Saved Me. He Who Believes In God, In His Cause And His Truth Is Capable Of Standing Up To The Greatest Power.

I Want To Say A Simple Thing, That The Dividing Line Exists Not Between Jordan And Israel, But Between The Proponents Of Peace And The Opponents Of Peace.

I Am Totally Against The Idea That A Muslim Woman Should Not Have The Same Opportunities As A Muslim Man To Learn, To Open Up, To Work, Help Shape The Future. To Close Islam Down To A Sexist Approach Is Totally Intolerable And Ridiculous. It's Not Islam.

Real Victories Are Those That Protect Human Life, Not Those That Result From Its Destruction Or Emerge From Its Ashes.

I Have Said This In The Past And I Will Continue To Repeat It As Long As I Live: Whoever Tries To Hurt Our National Unity Is My Enemy Until The Day Of Judgement.

The Dilemma Of Our Age Is The Combination Of Unprecedented Material Progress And Systematic Spiritual Decline. The Decline In Public And Private Morality Can Be Witnessed In The Marketplace As Well As The Forums Of International Diplomacy. In The Past, A Man's Honor And Reputation Were His Most Valuable Assets. Business Agreements Were Made With A Handshake. Today One Might Be Well Advised To Check The "bottom Line" And Read The "small Print."

The Absence And Suppression Of Justice Can Only Open The Way For Extremists To Exploit Such A Condition To Perpetrate Acts Of Violence Against Innocents.

I Have Found In My Experience That Expediency, Whether It Is Practical Or Not, Is An Unreliable Guide For Behavior. Human Behavior Must Be Guided By A Higher Principle. Practicality Has Its Place But Only Within A Framework Of Values, Which All Men Of Good Will Share.

There Is An Arabic Proverb Which Says That "peace Comes From Understanding, Not Agreement." Agreements Are More Easily Broken Than Made; But Understanding Never. It Is Urgent, Therefore, And In The Interest Of Peace, That There Be Better Understanding Among Nations. As People We Are One, Seeking The Same Goal. As Nations, We Lose Each Other Down The Different Paths We Choose To Fulfill Our National Objectives. That Is Why We Must Understand Each Other Better.

In This Life Struggle, Here I Am Among You Fully Cognizant That A True Believer Has No Fear Of What God Has Ordained For Him. Those Who Are Visited By Fear Live Only For Their Present, Under The Illusion That The World Began With Them And Will End With Their Departure.

I Wish To Say To You That The Life Of An Enlightened People And A Vibrant Nation Cannot Be Measured By The Life Of An Individual. A Successful Person Is One Who Manages To Lay Down A New Stone, A Brick That Would Help Firm Up His Nation's Existence.

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