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

These often unsung heroes understand...that poverty, disease and famine are just as deadly and destructive as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis. Individuals ...are taking on these challenges in their communities, volunteering to make a difference. They remain the true champions of our work towards the Millennium Development Goals.

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

If you are neutral in a situation where one side is patently being mistreated, the conclusion is that you're siding with this wrong.

I have often said that we have two UNs; the UN that is a Secretariat, that implements the mandates handed over to it by the General Assembly and the Security Council, and the UN that is the member states who sit in the Council, take the decisions, hand over the mandates, or take decisions in the General Assembly.

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

I often quote an African proverb that says: "The world is not ours, the earth is not ours, It's a treasure we hold in trust for future generations." And I often hope we will be worthy of that trust.