Antonio Guterres Quotes

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 U.N. might not be the most luxurious place to work, but it certainly is one of the most important places in the world.

The U.N. was created for people.

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.

The United Nations is our one great hope for a peaceful and free world.

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.

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.

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

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.

If the U.N. didn't exist, we'd be inventing it right now.

The U.N.'s impartiality allows it to negotiate and operate in some of the toughest places in the world. And time and again, studies have shown that U.N. peacekeeping is far more effective and done with far less money than what any government can do on its own.

The United Nations has a critical role to play in promoting stability, security, democracy, human rights, and economic development. The UN is as relevant today as at any time in its history, but it needs reform.

[Describing the United Nations:] ... a beehive without honey ... a chaotic and sterile maelstrom

The U.N. acts as the world's conscience.

I wouldn't give up on the U.N. yet.

The U.N. brings everybody together. And without it, we can't deal with Ebola or terrorism or climate change. But it's 70 years old. It's tired. It's acquired a lot of bad habits. And often it feels like only new bad habits get added and old bad habits don't get taken away.

There is firm support in the Swedish society for the United Nations and, of course, for the Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

I really don't want to live in a world where the U.N. will not be relevant, will not be seen as the enterprise we turn to when we have a problem.

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.

The U.N. is much more than the case of Iraq.

I'm a member of the US committee o the United Nations.

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.

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.