U Thant ( “U Thant” in Burmese is the same as “Mr. Thant” in English) was a Burmese diplomat and the third Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1961 to 1971, the first non-Scandinavian to hold the position. These inspirational U Thant Quotes will uplift your life.
Best U Thant Quotes
- “Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves.” – U Thant
- “The war we have to wage today has only one goal, and that is to make the world safe for diversity.” – U Thant
- “As we watch the sun go down, evening after evening, through the smog across the poisoned waters of our native earth, we must ask ourselves seriously whether we really wish some future universal historian on another planet to say about us: “With all their genius and with all their skill, they ran out of foresight and air and food and water and ideas,” or, They went on playing politics until their world collapsed around them.” – U Thant
- “Governments, systems, ideologies come and go, but it is humanity which remains.” – U Thant
- “As a Buddhist, I was trained to be tolerant of everything except intolerance. I was brought up not only to develop the spirit of tolerance but also to cherish moral and spiritual qualities such as modesty, humility, compassion, and, most important, to attain a certain degree of emotional equilibrium.” – U Thant
- “The concept of peaceful coexistence has been criticized by many who do not see the need to make the world safe for diversity. I wonder if they have ever paused to ask themselves the question: What is the alternative to coexistence?” – U Thant
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“The world will not change and find peace if there is not a new education.” – U Thant
- “The law of love and compassion for all living creatures is again a doctrine to which we are all too ready to pay slip service. However, if it is to become a reality, it requires a process of education, a veritable mental renaissance. Once it has become a reality, national as well as international problems will fall into perspectives and become easier to solve. Wars and conflicts, too, will then become a thing of the past, because wars begin in the minds of men, and in those minds love and compassion would have built the defenses of peace.” – U Thant
- “Respect for the truth comes close to being the basis for all morality.” – U Thant
- “In modern war there is no such thing as victor and vanquished… There is only a loser, and the loser is mankind.” – U Thant
- “Understanding, love and tolerance are the highest forms of interest on out small and interdependent planet.” – U Thant
- “As a Buddhist, I was trained to be tolerant of everything except intolerance” – U Thant
- “The single most important impediment to global institutions is the concept of “my country, right or wrong”.” – U Thant
- “I am afraid if the present trend in Vietnam continues that direct confrontation, first of all between Washington and Peking, is inevitable.” – U Thant
- “I don’t like to be disturbed at home; I tell the cable office not to call me before 6:30 AM unless there’s a war.” – U Thant
