A Quote by Ban Ki-moon
From the beginning of my time as Secretary-General, I have sought to advance a practical, action-oriented vision of the U.N. as the voice of the voiceless and the defender of the defenceless.
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Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.
Let the voice be the voice of the voiceless and let it come from the world of rap music to keep the stereotype and the peace at the same time.
If the U.N. secretary-general withdraws the inspectors from Baghdad ... this means that the secretary-general has abandoned its own responsibility in maintaining peace and security in the world.
The victims of social injustice, since time eternal, have always been without the resources and the ability to fight back. They are defenseless and voiceless. Thee sad aspect of social injustice is that the defenseless and voiceless are the ones who most need a defense and a strong, vibrant voice.
Most executives I know are so action-oriented, or action-addicted, that time for reflection is the first casualty of their success.
Our democracy only works when the official opposition does its job of opposing the government of the day and offers a clear alternative vision for our country, including giving a voice to the voiceless.
When they called me with the Nobel call from Secretary General of the Swedish Academy it was twenty minutes to six and he said well that was well hope I'm not disturbing you but I am the Secretary General of the Swedish Academy. Of course you can imagine I was frozen in time when he said that but then he made a very famous statement, something to the effect that this is the last 20 minutes of peace of your life.
Our submission to general principles is necessary because we cannot be guided in our practical action by full knowledge and evaluation of the consequences. So long as men are not omniscient, the only way in which freedom can be given to the individual is by such general rules to delimit the sphere in which the decision is his. There can be no freedom if the government is not limited to particular kinds of action but can use its powers in any ways which serve particular ends.
The UN was very media-shy, and its relationship with the press was very controlled; although periodically I spoke to the press, the rule was, only the secretary-general speaks to the press; only the secretary-general makes... So you would see many situations where under-secretaries-general would come in and speak. I opened that, and I encouraged all of them to speak in their areas, whether it was peacekeeping or humanitarian efforts.
Sometimes strident, often tender, never afraid and seldom without humour, Desmond Tutu's voice will always be the voice of the voiceless.
In 2012, General Dempsey, General Petraeus directed the CIA, Secretary Panetta and Secretary Clinton recommended to the president to robustly arm and train the Syrian moderates. He says no. In 2013, conduct a military strike, same national security team, against the Assad regime because he violated the chemical red line. He says no.
It's always a difficult time to be secretary general.
The amount of our endurance is directly proportionate to the clarity of our vision, so the practical application is we need to spend time to develop clarity of vision. What do you want your life to look like five, ten or fifteen years from now? Oftentimes, it's not so much a lack of discipline but a lack of vision.
The vision must be realistic - it has to be based on clear distinctive competencies. Again, what would the world lose if you didn't exist? A vision is very powerful because it gives you a basis to judge every action you take. Every action should be viewed through the prism of whether it furthers the vision.
Men since the beginning of time have sought peace.
Like a great athlete, we must have a very clear vision of what we want to accomplish before we make a move. Vision, in preparation for an action, is as important as the action itself.
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