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I've been around enough to realise that there are two things that once people have them, they don't want to give up, and it's extremely difficult to convince them to give up: one is privileges, and the other is subsidies.

Kofi Annan

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Kofi Annan
Age: 80 †
Born: 1938
Born: April 8
Died: 2018
Died: August 18
Diplomat
Economist
Politician
Coomassie
Kofi Atta Annan
Annan
Kofi A. Annan
Difficult
Two
Subsidies
Around
Privileges
Give
Realise
Enough
Realising
Giving
Convince
Things
Extremely
People
Privilege

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Any society that does not succeed in tapping into the energy and creativity of its youth will be left behind.
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The reality is that no group of countries has any grounds for complacency about its own human rights performance and no group of countries does itself justice by automatically slipping into the victim mode . . . .
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I did not always achieve what I set out to do. Nevertheless, my personal example certainly suggests that hands-on experience can be helpful to future leaders.
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You are never too young to lead.
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Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda. Our mission, therefore, is to confront ignorance with knowledge, bigotry with tolerance, and isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity. Racism can, will, and must be defeated.
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Does anyone seriously contend that any nation can fend for itself?
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Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifeline it is condemned to bleed to death.
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We tend to look at countries in terms of failed states and functioning states, which is rather simplistic.
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If the United Nations is not as united as it should be, that is because it is a reflection of the world we live in.
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My intimate knowledge of the [UN] system allowed me to get things done despite the many obstacles.
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Ameen Rihani, one of the earliest Arab Americans, devoted his life to bringing the East and the West together. We are not of the East or the West, he wrote. No boundaries exist in our breast: We are free.
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