Kofi Annan Quotes
Over the past five years, I have often recalled that the United Nations' Charter begins with the words: 'We the peoples.' What is not always recognized is that 'we the peoples' are made up of individuals whose claims to the most fundamental rights have too often been sacrificed in the supposed interests of the state or the nation.
Quotes to Explore
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We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race. We all share the same basic values.
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I don't share the view that the ICC is anti-African. The ICC is not putting Africa on trial. The ICC is fighting impunity and individuals who are accused of crimes.
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If information and knowledge are central to democracy, they are conditions for development.
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The Lord had the wonderful advantage of being able to work alone.
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I think it is important to speak out.
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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.
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As long as inequality and other social problems plague us, populists will try to exploit them.
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When economic conditions are difficult, people tend to be less generous and protect themselves; the question of solidarity doesn't mean much to them at that time.
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I arrived there straight from Africa' - and I can tell you, Minnesota soon taught me the value of a thick overcoat, a warm scarf and even ear-muffs!
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Sometimes I walk into a situation and know someone is going to provoke me, and I just simply refuse to be provoked.
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Eating insects is good for the environment and balanced diets.
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Time and again, when member states and the governments are faced with an insoluble problem, and they're under pressure to do something, that something usually ends up being referred to the U.N.
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It is only through multilateral institutions that States can hold each other to account. And that makes it very important to organize those institutions in a fair and democratic way, giving the poor and the weak some influence over the actions of the rich and the strong.
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You can do a lot with diplomacy, but with diplomacy backed up by force you can get a lot more done.
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There is no development strategy more beneficial to society as a whole - women and men alike - than the one which involves women as central players.
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The international community . . . allows nearly 3 billion people-almost half of all humanity-to subsist on $2 or less a day in a world of unprecedented wealth.
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The US has given the world an example of a democracy in which everyone, including the most powerful, is subject to legal restraint. Its current moment of world supremacy gives it a priceless opportunity to entrench the same principles at the global level.
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If citizens do not believe they can change their leaders through the ballot box, they will find other ways, even at the risk of destabilizing their countries.
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If one is going to err, one should err on the side of liberty and freedom.
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The Arab Spring reminds me a bit of the decolonisation process where one country gets independence, and everybody else wants it.
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When you leave one home for another, there are always lessons to be learnt. And I had more to learn when I moved on from Minnesota to the United Nations - the indispensable common house of the entire human family, which has been my main home for the last 44 years.
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In the rush for justice it is important not to lose sight of principles the country holds dear.
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In today’s world, the security of every one of us is linked to that of everyone else.
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Above all else, we need a reaffirmation of political commitment at the highest levels to reducing the dangers that arise both from existing nuclear weapons and from further proliferation.