But the first the general public learned about the discovery was the news of the destruction of Hiroshima by the atom bomb. A splendid achievement of science and technology had turned malign. Science became identified with death and destruction.

Above all remember your humanity.

I did not imagine that the second half of my life would be spent on efforts to avert a mortal danger to humanity created by science.

So I ask the nuclear powers to abandon the out-of-date thinking of the Cold War period and take a fresh look. Above all, I appeal to them to bear in mind the long-term threat that nuclear weapons pose to humankind and to begin action towards their elimination.

But the nuclear powers still cling tenaciously to their weapons.

My short-term vision is the abolition of nuclear weapons. My long-term vision is the abolition of war.

The present basic philosophy is nuclear deterrence.