Peace is never a perfect achievement.

I don't see a situation where one side will win militarily, take over Syria, and there will be peace and quiet, a clean victory.

Knowledge is power. Information is liberating.

To look into some aspects of the future, we do not need projections by supercomputers. Much of the next millennium can be seen in how we care for our children today. Tomorrow's world may be influenced by science and technology, but more than anything, it is already taking shape in the bodies and minds of our children.

Often, we take stability - peace in terms of security and economic activity - to mean a country is doing well. We forget the third and important pillar of rule of law and respect for human rights, because no country can long remain prosperous without that third pillar.

Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.

Our biggest challenge in this new century is to take an idea that seems abstract - sustainable development - and turn it into a reality for all the world's people