Top 77 Kofi Annan Quotes

One has to have the strength of character to say the time has come to move on… unless you are a king.

To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.

I think it is not just the U.N. speaking, but the concept of a third party, a third party to a conflict speaking out. You know, sometimes saying, ‘Stop, this is enough. This cannot be allowed to happen,’ gives the victims and the people who are caught in that situation courage, encouragement, support.

We have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit, and one which has a human face.

My own advice to people who would be in office for two or three terms is that they must accept democratic rotation: ideally, not put themselves up for re-election and allow the system to work.

Unfortunately, very few governments think about youth unemployment when they are drawing up their national plans.

When people say the U.N. is useless, I ask the question, which U.N. are we talking about? We have the U.N. that is a secretariat led by the secretary general, and we have a U.N. made up of member states who give us our mandate.

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.

As long as inequality and other social problems plague us, populists will try to exploit them.

Governments have to conclude a fair, universal, and binding climate agreement, by which every country commits to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.

To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.

Change is a process which has to be managed.

Iraq has a new opportunity to comply with all these relevant resolutions of the Security Council.

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.

We cannot wait for governments to do it all. Globalization operates on Internet time. Governments tend to be slow moving by nature, because they have to build political support for every step.

If we can come up with innovations and train young people to take on new jobs, and if we can switch to clean energy, I think we have the capacity to build this world not dependent on fossil-fuel. I think it will happen, and it won’t destroy economy.

Business, labor and civil society organizations have skills and resources that are vital in helping to build a more robust global community.

Business, labor and civil society organizations have skills and resources that are vital in helping to build a more robust global community.

Often we mistake stability, in terms of security and economic activity, to mean a country is doing well. We forget the third and important pillar: rule of law and respect for human rights.

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.

Eating insects is good for the environment and balanced diets.

We need to keep hope alive and strive to do better.

I think it is important to speak out.

We seriously have to question the motivation of those people referred to as climate change sceptics, who are denying the evidence of human-caused climate change and preventing us from moving forward by spreading disinformation and supporting unchecked carbon pollution.

I think it is not just the U.N. speaking, but the concept of a third party, a third party to a conflict speaking out. You know, sometimes saying, ‘Stop, this is enough. This cannot be allowed to happen,’ gives the victims and the people who are caught in that situation courage, encouragement, support.

What governments and people don’t realise is that sometimes the collective interest – the international interest – is also the national interest.

It has been said that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity.

We need to keep hope alive and strive to do better.

We have the means and the capacity to deal with our problems, if only we can find the political will.

I am a stubborn optimist: I was born an optimist and will remain an optimist.

The skills you need to fight the colonial power and the skills you need to gain independence are not necessarily the same you need to run a country.

More than ever before in human history, we share a common destiny. We can master it only if we face it together. And that, my friends, is why we have the United Nations.

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.

Sometimes I walk into a situation and know someone is going to provoke me, and I just simply refuse to be provoked.

On climate change, we often don’t fully appreciate that it is a problem. We think it is a problem waiting to happen.

I have always believed that on important issues, the leaders must lead. Where the leaders fail to lead, and people are really concerned about it, the people will take the lead and make the leaders follow.

If information and knowledge are central to democracy, they are conditions for development.

We seriously have to question the motivation of those people referred to as climate change sceptics, who are denying the evidence of human-caused climate change and preventing us from moving forward by spreading disinformation and supporting unchecked carbon pollution.

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.

To some extent, Rwanda became a victim of the Somalia experience.

The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the states in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being.

The Arab Spring reminds me a bit of the decolonisation process where one country gets independence, and everybody else wants it.

Unfortunately, very few governments think about youth unemployment when they are drawing up their national plans.

Developing and newer democracies are much more susceptible to the tactics of populists and demagogues – they often do not have strong institutions, free press, or the infrastructure required to defend their nascent democracies.

Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development.

If we can come up with innovations and train young people to take on new jobs, and if we can switch to clean energy, I think we have the capacity to build this world not dependent on fossil-fuel. I think it will happen, and it won’t destroy economy.

Could you imagine if the U.N. had endorsed the war in Iraq, what our reputation would be like?

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.

National markets are held together by shared values and confidence in certain minimum standards. But in the new global market, people do not yet have that confidence.

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.

Shifting towards low-carbon energy systems can avert climate catastrophe while creating new opportunities for investment, growth, and employment.

Eating insects is good for the environment and balanced diets.

If one is going to err, one should err on the side of liberty and freedom.

If the United Nations does not attempt to chart a course for the world’s people in the first decades of the new millennium, who will?

Sometimes I walk into a situation and know someone is going to provoke me, and I just simply refuse to be provoked.

If information and knowledge are central to democracy, they are conditions for development.

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.

It has been said that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity.

Change is a process which has to be managed.

We cannot allow situations where leaders threaten war on television or on Twitter.

We have to choose between a global market driven only by calculations of short-term profit, and one which has a human face.

Could you imagine if the U.N. had endorsed the war in Iraq, what our reputation would be like?

Open markets offer the only realistic hope of pulling billions of people in developing countries out of abject poverty, while sustaining prosperity in the industrialized world.

The skills you need to fight the colonial power and the skills you need to gain independence are not necessarily the same you need to run a country.

Sometimes leaders slide from the role of freedom fighter into the presidency, which they may be unsuited for, but everyone accepts it until they hit the bump in the road.