Quote collection
333 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"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."
"After the end of the cold war, everybody thought, fantastic, finally the UN may be able to do what it was originally set up to do without big power divisions. It would be easy to get them to come together to resolve things. You will recall, on the first Gulf war, you almost got a unanimous resolution and a very solid coalition."
"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."
"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 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."
"Ameen Rihani, one of the earliest Arab Americans, devoted his life to bringing the East and the West together. We are not of the East or the West, he wrote. No boundaries exist in our breast: We are free."
"Achieving the MDGs is not optional; it is an essential investment in a safer, more human and prosperous world"
"The [UN Security Council] P5 ought to be dissuaded from using their veto power, which can paralyze the United Nations. The country blocking action ought to have to explain its decision and propose an alternative solution. It has been suggested that a veto only becomes effective if the vetoing state has the support of two or three other permanent members."
"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."
"We need to ensure the poorest in the planet - who will be hardest hit by the financial crisis - are not forgotten."
"My intimate knowledge of the [UN] system allowed me to get things done despite the many obstacles."
"You need to be careful not to over-reach and also assess the capacity you have to work with."
"Perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol."
"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?"
"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"
"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."
"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."
"UN is made even more complex by the constant interplay of politics and bureaucracy and can certainly be bewildering for a novice."
"The report produced by my commission, the Global Commission on Elections, Democracy and Security, in 2012 showed the corrosive impact of money in US politics, for example, which undermines the legitimacy of the democratic system in citizens' eyes. Such perceptions partly explain the rise of a phenomenon like the success of Donald Trump."
"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."