YouSaid · the spoken record

RAJARATNAM

lines on the record

254

first

1969-09-24

most recent

1979-09-24

sittings or episodes

9

sources

un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

1. “As the President correctly pointed out, there appears to be a belief among some of us that a resolution adopted by this Organization is synonymous with a solution achieved. When this august body is confronted with a problem, its instinctive reaction is to begin a frantic search for an appropriate resolution — not a practical solution. Not problem-solving but resolution-making becomes the game. This is not to underestimate the importance of resolutions in any organization. They have a proper function to perform in any organized activity. However, they have their limitations too.”

   1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)

2. “Further analysis reveals that 15 of these have been putting in a persistent appearance and reappearance for from 5 to 10 years. Eight others have been relentlessly haunting this Assembly for 15 years, while 10 have been with this Organization longer than have most of us, having grown up with the Organization for 20 years or more. 104. I fully appreciate that the grave and momentous issues that come before this Assembly should not be hastily disposed of. It is right and proper that some important questions are worth sleeping on, but 20 years to sleep on questions makes one wonder whether a metaphor is not being taken too literally. There may be valid reasons why many of these problems have become permanent fixtures on our agenda, but the mythology of achievement is one important reason why they have achieved near-immortality status. 105.”

   1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)

3. “Since next year we shall be celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, a more critical and realistic appraisal of our past and present performance should guide our rhetoric along useful channels when, next year, we come to consider the United Nations prospects for the next quarter of a century. 103. The President’s observation about our predilection for the “mythology of achievement“, I am sorry to say, is substantiated by an analysis of the agenda now before us. Out of the 67 items — excluding routine items relating to elections and administrative and financial questions — 33 have been on the agenda for periods ranging from 5 to 20 years or more. In other words, half of the 67 items are permanent incrustations on our agenda.”

   1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)

4. “102. It is a pleasure for me and the members of my delegation to associate ourselves with the felicitations that wave already been extended to our President on the occasion of her election to her high and responsible office. To what has already been said I would like to add my appreciation of the refreshing note of frankness and realism she injected into her inaugural address, thus breaking away from the sterile protocol which prescribes that the President’s address should be a tranquilizer rather than a stimulant to speakers that follow. Her pertinent observation that this august body has long been addicted to what she described as the “mythology of achievement” [1753rd meeting, para. 54] is as timely as it is welcome.”

   1969-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 24 (1969)