literacy is at the heart of sustainable development

Education is the great equalizer of our time. It gives hope to the hopeless and creates chances for those without.

We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.

One of my biggest regrets was the fact that as an institution and an international community we could not stop the war in Iraq. That really was very difficult and very painful. Every fibre in my body felt it was wrong. I spoke to leaders, we spoke to people, we tried... we couldn't stop it... and we see the results.

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

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.

Children are our future and if we use them in battle, we are destroying the future. We must reclaim them, every one of them, one at a time.