"Usually, when you look around the world, people are killing each other, fighting over scarce resources."
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Quote collection
Kofi Annan quotes (page 12 of 17)
333 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"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."
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"Nelson Mandela stands as an inspiration to us all"
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"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."
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"Intelligence can be used to manipulate."
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"Change is a process which has to be managed. If it's managed and managed well in the interest of the nation and the people, the likelihood is that it will end well."
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"The problem is not with the faith, but with the faithful"
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"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."
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"A United Nations that will not stand up for human rights is a United Nations that cannot stand up for itself."
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"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."
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"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. But 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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"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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"The invasion and occupation of Iraq is illegal."
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"I think the world has moved on."
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"The United Nations is proud to have the Adopt-A-Minefield Campaign as a partner."
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"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."
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"To go to war without the Security Council will not be in conformity with the Council."
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"We have to be very clear with the population and the countries we enter what we can do and what we cannot do."
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"A nation has the right to defend itself, but when it comes to the broader issue of peace and security, the legitimacy rests only with the Security Council."
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"The United Nations believes that acceptance of these principles will help the Palestinian people achieve their legitimate goal of an end to occupation and the creation of an independent and viable state, living in peace and security with its neighbors."
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