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

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

Normally when people resign they will organise their champagne farewell parties... and then they resurface somewhere.

Today, no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another. What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations.

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.

The global work of the United Nations is not without reason compared to that of a family - striving for a common goal in concert with all members for a better future.

I think that in the West, many citizens, especially younger citizens, take their freedoms and institutions for granted and focus on their frustrations with their governments' inability to solve pressing problems.