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.
Interpretation
The future is shaped by how we nurture our children today.
Kofi Annan emphasizes the profound impact that our current actions towards children have on the future. While advances in science and technology will shape the world, the foundational values and care instilled in the younger generation today will fundamentally influence societal development in the years to come.
In practice
This quote is perfect for a speech at a children's charity fundraiser.
If you have a problem and you can't find a solution, you meet again tomorrow and you keep talking until you find a solution. You can disagree with behavior or a particular position, but you do not resort to calling an opponent worthless.
Let us remember the large numbers of citizens who, day in and day out, through acts of volunteerism large and small, bring hope to so many of the world's disadvantaged. Let us ensure that this wonderful resource, available in abundance to every nation, is recognized and supported as it works towards a more prosperous and peaceful world.
We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.
The global HIV/AIDS epidemic is an unprecedented crisis that requires an unprecedented response. In particular it requires solidarity - between the healthy and the sick, between rich and poor, and above all, between richer and poorer nations. We have 30 million orphans already. How many more do we have to get, to wake up?
People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups. We can love what we are, without hating what – and who – we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.
Democracy is, in essence, a form of non-violent conflict management. If war is the worst enemy of development, healthy and balanced development is the best form of conflict prevention.
My alma mater is the Chicago Public Library. I got what little educational foundation I got in the third-floor reading room, under the tutelage of a Coca-Cola sign.
We need literature because we wouldn’t fully know ourselves without it. We need good literature to be fully human.
Inclusive, good-quality education is a foundation for dynamic and equitable societies.
When schools flourish, all flourishes.
When I'm writing, I'm never trying to teach anything - maybe I'm trying to illuminate.
Learning is not child's play; we cannot learn without pain.
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