"Like any large organisation, public or private, the UN is a complex machine."
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Kofi Annan quotes (page 17 of 17)
333 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"In fact UN is more of a galaxy of organisations and agencies than one machine."
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"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."
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"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."
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"We at the U.N. have to take some of the blame, because we have not lowered expectations creating the impression we are here to save people, even when we have very limited resources."
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"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."
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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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"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."
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"In all these cases, part of the reasons for failure perhaps was not analyzing and assessing the true nature of the crisis, the resources that would be required, and exaggerated expectation of what the U.N. troops can do."
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"Elections with integrity are a challenge everywhere, including in the West."
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"This is an historic step forward in the world's efforts to combat a truly global threat."
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"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."
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"Invite politicians to dinner and let them tell the world how delicious it is. . . . They will proudly go around and say, 'I ate crickets, I ate locusts, and they were delicious.'"
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