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Kofi Annan Quotes

Ghanaian economist and diplomat, Birth: 8-4-1938 Kofi Annan Quotes
1.
We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.
Kofi Annan

We can have diverse faiths, tongues, and complexions, yet we all are part of one global family.
2.
Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.
Kofi Annan

Understanding is strength. Facts are liberating. Learning is the basis of advancement, in every community, in every home.
3.
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.
Kofi Annan

To exist is to select. But to choose wisely, you must comprehend your identity and what you believe in, where you desire to be and the reason why you plan to arrive there.
4.
Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace. If, however, they are left on society's margins, all of us will be impoverished. Let us ensure that all young people have every opportunity to participate fully in the lives of their societies.
Kofi Annan

5.
We need to promote greater tolerance and understanding among the peoples of the world. Nothing can be more dangerous to our efforts to build peace and development than a world divided along religious, ethnic or cultural lines. In each nation, and among all nations, we must work to promote unity based on our shared humanity.
Kofi Annan

Similar Authors: Ludwig von Mises John Kenneth Galbraith Milton Friedman David Hume John Stuart Mill Paul Ryan Pablo Neruda Madeleine Albright John Maynard Keynes Daniel Kahneman Adam Smith Paul Krugman Muhammad Yunus Robert Reich Joseph Stiglitz
6.
Education is a human right with immense power to transform. On its foundation rest the cornerstones of freedom, democracy and sustainable human development.
Kofi Annan

Education is an inalienable entitlement with tremendous capacity to alter. Its basis bears the foundation stones of independence, self-governance and stable human evolution.
7.
We shall not defeat any of the infectious diseases that plague the developing world until we have also won the battle for safe drinking water, sanitation, and basic health care.
Kofi Annan

We shall not vanquish any of the transmittable illnesses that afflict the underdeveloped world until we have also achieved victory for safe drinking water, sanitation, and rudimentary medical attention.
8.
...there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.
Kofi Annan

...there is no greater force for growth than granting autonomy to women.
Quote Topics by Kofi Annan: People Country Rights Thinking War World Men Children Needs Government Issues Iraq Moving Development Long Community Education Family Years Law Opportunity Reality Responsibility Jobs Goal Two Vision Leader Fighting Mean
9.
Education is, quite simply, peace-building by another name. It is the most effective form of defense spending there is.
Kofi Annan

Instruction is, simply put, a form of conflict resolution. It is the most efficient way to expend funds for protection.
10.
When women thrive, all of society benefits, and succeeding generations are given a better start in life.
Kofi Annan

When women flourish, all of civilization flourishes, and future generations are provided a more advantageous beginning in life.
11.
Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda. Our mission, therefore, is to confront ignorance with knowledge, bigotry with tolerance, and isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity. Racism can, will, and must be defeated.
Kofi Annan

12.
Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.
Kofi Annan

Gender parity is an essential step towards ameliorating poverty, promoting long-term development and instituting solid governance.
13.
If globalization is to succeed, it must succeed for poor and rich alike. It must deliver rights no less than riches. It must provide social justice and equity no less than economic prosperity and enhanced communication.
Kofi Annan

14.
It has been said that arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity.
Kofi Annan

15.
Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation, and it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace
Kofi Annan

16.
You are never too young to lead and you should never doubt your capacity to triumph where others have not.
Kofi Annan

17.
...let us continue to work together to develop and nurture in future generations a culture of human rights, to promote freedom, security and peace in all nations.
Kofi Annan

18.
UN peacekeeping operations are now increasingly complex and multi-dimensional, going beyond monitoring a ceasefire to actually bringing failed States back to life, often after decades of conflict. The blue helmets and their civilian colleagues work together to organize elections, enact police and judicial reform, promote and protect human rights, conduct mine-clearance, advance gender equality, achieve the voluntary disarmament of former combatants, and support the return of refugees and displaced people to their homes.
Kofi Annan

19.
Gather the five virtues (Dignity, Confidence, Courage, Compassion, and Faith). Then you are a man.
Kofi Annan

20.
I am not afraid to dream. You first have to start with a dream. Build your castles in the air and give it foundation. Without a dream, you are not going to get anywhere.
Kofi Annan

21.
It may seem sometimes as if a culture of peace does not stand a chance against the culture of war, the culture of violence and the cultures of impunity and intolerance. Peace may indeed be a complex challenge, dependent on action in many fields and even a bit of luck from time to time. It may be a painfully slow process, and fragile and imperfect when it is achieved. But peace is in our hands. We can do it.
Kofi Annan

22.
Microfinance is an idea whose time has come.
Kofi Annan

23.
No one is born a good citizen or a good democrat or a good leader; it takes time and education.
Kofi Annan

24.
On this International Day of UN Peacekeepers, let us pay tribute to the men and women from countries across the world who serve selflessly, tirelessly and fearlessly in UN peacekeeping operations. Let us remember the heroes who have laid down their lives in lands far from their own in the service of peace. And let us reaffirm our commitment to building a world free from the scourge of war.
Kofi Annan

25.
The Millennium Development Goals can be met by 2015, but only if all involved break with business as usual and dramatically accelerate and scale up action now.
Kofi Annan

26.
Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.
Kofi Annan

27.
We need to think of the future and the planet we are going to leave to our children and their children.
Kofi Annan

28.
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.
Kofi Annan

29.
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.
Kofi Annan

30.
Poverty devastates families, communities and nations. It causes instability and political unrest and fuels conflict.
Kofi Annan

31.
Business, labor and civil society organizations have skills and resources that are vital in helping to build a more robust global community.
Kofi Annan

32.
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.
Kofi Annan

33.
It is extreme arrogance for one to think he is the only one who can govern his country and nobody else can do it. We're all human. After 10, 15 years you get tired, you run out of steam and ideas, you have to give a chance to somebody else. And whether you yourself are inclined to stay on, all those around you are pushing you to stay on for what they will gain. One has to have the strength of character to say the time has come to move on...unless you are a king.
Kofi Annan

34.
Once you are really challenged, you find something in yourself. Man doesn't know what he is capable of until he is asked.
Kofi Annan

35.
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.
Kofi Annan

36.
No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts off from its youth severs its lifeline.
Kofi Annan

37.
It is impossible to realize our goals while discriminating against half the human race. As study after study has taught us, there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.
Kofi Annan

38.
People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups. We can love what we are, without hating what – and who – we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.
Kofi Annan

39.
Microfinance recognizes that poor people are remarkable reservoirs of energy and knowledge
Kofi Annan

40.
In an age of interdependence, global citizenship - based on trust and sense of shared responsibility - is a crucial pillar of progress. At a time when more than one billion people are denied the very minimum requirements of human dignity, business cannot afford to be seen as the problem. Rather, it must work with governments and all other actors in society to mobilize global science, technology and knowledge to tackle the interlocking crises of hunger, disease, environmental degradation and conflict that are holding back the developing world.
Kofi Annan

41.
Microfinance recognizes that poor people are remarkable reservoirs of energy and knowledge, posing an untapped opportunity to create markets, bring people in from the margins and give them the tools with which to help themselves.
Kofi Annan

42.
Let us be good stewards of the Earth we inherited. All of us have to share the Earth's fragile ecosystems and precious resources, and each of us has a role to play in preserving them. If we are to go on living together on this earth, we must all be responsible for it.
Kofi Annan

43.
One must also acknowledge that there are moments in an organisation's development when fresh blood and new vision are required, which may imply that an outsider may be better suited to the leadership role.
Kofi Annan

44.
I urge you to celebrate the extraordinary courage and contributions of refugees past and present.
Kofi Annan

45.
No nation can make itself secure by seeking supremacy over all others. We all share responsibility for each other's security, and only by working to make each other secure can we hope to achieve lasting security for ourselves.
Kofi Annan

46.
If you are neutral in a situation where one side is patently being mistreated, the conclusion is that you're siding with this wrong.
Kofi Annan

47.
Reform is a process, and not an event.
Kofi Annan

48.
It is within the family that children learn the values that will guide them for the rest of their lives. It is within the family that they form their earliest relationships, learn to communicate with others and interact with the world around them. It is within the family that the notion of human rights becomes a reality lived on a daily basis. If tolerance, respect and equity permeate family life, they will translate into values that shape societies, nations and the world.
Kofi Annan

49.
I am often asked what can people do to become a good global citizen? I reply that it begins in your own community.
Kofi Annan

50.
You have to wake up every day ready to start again.
Kofi Annan