Ban Ki-moon Quotes

The future of the U.N. will be determined by its readiness to change and adapt.

Out of these troubled times … a new world order may emerge.

The United Nations exists not merely to preserve the peace but also to make change - even radical change - possible without violent upheaval. The United Nations has no vested interest in the status quo…

The United Nations is an indispensable but deeply flawed organization. It is valuable to the United States, and the United States is invaluable to it. We need to reform it.

I think U.N. organizations are important organizations. They exist for good reasons. And we also admit that there is room for us to improve the way we do business. The WHO will be a very positive and proactive partner in the overall U.N. reform, which is also important.

The United Nations was not set up to be a reformatory. It was assumed that you would be good before you got in and not that being in would make you good.

We are now changing the culture at the United Nations. And with that, we're changing the culture in the world in the discussions that we're having.

We need a relevant and efficient United Nations.

The U.N. must be made more inclusive, accountable, democratic, effective, and reflective of a world in which political and economic power has shifted.

The U.N. is capable of endless process and mindless psychobabble, but as far as getting the job done on the ground, I just don't see them doing it.

There is an ongoing debate about the reform of the U.N. system.

The U.N. is one of many competitors in a marketplace of global problem solving.

As I prepare for my second term as Secretary-General, I am thinking hard about how we can meet the expectations of the millions of people who see the U.N.'s blue flag as a banner of hope. We have to continue our life-saving work in peacekeeping, human rights, development and humanitarian relief.

We must never relent in our efforts to resolve conflicts through diplomacy and through all of the instruments bestowed by the Charter of the United Nations.

The United Nations will be at the heart of our international activities. France will assume its full responsibilities at the Security Council by putting its status at the service of peace, respect for human rights and development.

As we have seen, the wireless and the airplane have made the world so small and nations so dependent on each other that the only alternative to war is the United States of the World.

I have concluded that the U.N. can do a few things well.

It may surprise people to know that I advocate the reform of the United Nations, not its abolishment.

The key to U.N. reform is giving Americans a clearer picture of what the U.N. is and what it isn't, what it can be and what it can't be.

The U.N. can be very frustrating and at times impotent, but it can also be a valuable forum for discussion and resolution of world problems. We should not walk away from it just because it's failed to live up to its promise.

And I hope America will realise, as the only superpower now, it really must use its power in a way that's going to build up the world, and to support the United Nations.

The purpose of the United Nations should be to protect the essential sovereignty of nations, large and small.

The U.N. bureaucracy has grown to elephantine proportions. Now that the Cold War is over, we are asking that elephant to do gymnastics.

The United Nations is designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its members.

I have set out to change the language of the international system.