Let us be good stewards of the Earth we inherited. All of us have to share the Earth's fragile ecosystems and precious resources, and each of us has a role to play in preserving them. If we are to go on living together on this earth, we must all be responsible for it.
Interpretation
We must take care of our planet and its resources.
This quote emphasizes the importance of environmental stewardship and highlights the collective responsibility we share in protecting the Earth's delicate ecosystems. Kofi Annan calls for a unified effort to safeguard our planet, reminding us that our existence depends on how well we care for the environment and its resources.
In practice
During a climate change conference, this quote can be used to inspire commitment to environmental protection.
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.
From my experience with wild apples, I can understand that there may be reason for a savage's preferring many kinds of food which the civilized man rejects. The former has the palate of an outdoor man. It takes a savage or wild taste to appreciate a wild fruit.
Perhaps nature is our best assurance of immortality.
Clearly, we need to rethink our attitudes about water and move away from thinking of it as nearly a free good and a God-given right.
Great attention gets paid to rainforests because of the diversity of life there. Diversity in the oceans is even greater.
Health is the capacity of the land for self-renewal.
May this continent, the last explored by humankind, be the first one to be spared by humankind.
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