Quotes from Kofi Annan

The Lord had the wonderful advantage of being able to work alone.

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.

I urge the Iraqi leadership for sake of its own people... to seize this opportunity and thereby begin to end the isolation and suffering of the Iraqi people.

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

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

The question is the morning after. What sort of Iraq do we wake up to after the bombing? What happens in the region? What impact could it have? These are questions leaders I have spoken to have posed.

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.

More countries have understood that women's equality is a prerequisite for development.

Many African leaders refuse to send their troops on peace keeping missions abroad because they probably need their armies to intimidate their own populations.

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

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.

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.

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.

Education is, quite simply, peace-building by another name. It is the most effective form of defense spending there is.

The problem is not with the faith, but with the faithful

If you have a problem and you can't find a solution, you meet again tomorrow and you keep talking until you find a solution. You can disagree with behavior or a particular position, but you do not resort to calling an opponent worthless.

Tolerance, inter-cultural dialogue and respect for diversity are more essential than ever in a world where peoples are becoming more and more closely interconnected.

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

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

Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.

You can do a lot with diplomacy, but with diplomacy backed up by force you can get a lot more done.

As study after study has taught us, there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.

EDUCATION IS A HUMAN RIGHT WITH IMMENSE POWER TO TRANSFORM

EDUCATION IS THE PREMISE OF PROGRESS