UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Presidents, premiers, monarchs and cabinet ministers have plenty to say at their annual gathering at the U.N. General Assembly. Still, sometimes they borrow a few words, quoting from a range of sources.
Speakers this week touched on homeland sayings, ancient texts, figures of moral authority and more — even a bit of Talking Heads (not TV pundits — the 1980s new wave band).
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Here’s a sampling of references:
“Laws are made to prevent the strong from oppressing the weak.” — the ancient Babylonian king Hammurabi, quoted by Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi
“The coral reef where different species of fish congregate to feed and seek shelter.” — a reference from a Marshallese proverb, as explained by Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine
“We’re on a road to nowhere.” — David Byrne of the band Talking Heads, quoted by Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
“We are the land, its custodians and its inhabitants. To us it belongs, for we are its people and its home. Today belongs to the people, and the glorious yesterday belongs to them, as well. To them belong the future, history and time itself.” — a Yemeni poet, as quoted by Abdullah Abdulkader al Alimi-Bawzer, vice president of Yemen’s internationally recognized governing council, and as translated by U.N. interpreters
“The breach of one rule inevitably leads to the breach of other rules.” — Mahatma Gandhi, quoted by Finnish President Alexander Stubb
Delegates listen to Finland’s President Alexander Stubb address the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on Sept. 22, 2026. Photo by Mike Segar/Reuters
“Members of the United Nations General Assembly, your very name implies commitment, through your peace initiatives and humanitarian policies, to igniting the fires of conscience, empathy, unity and equity.” — Barbados’ poet laureate, Esther Phillips, quoted by Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley
“When we gather together in the moonlit village ground, it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound. We come together because it is good for kinsmen to do so.” — author Chinua Achebe, quoted by President Azali Assoumani of The Comoros
“When there is anguish in Port-au-Prince, it’s still Africa crying. We’re outing fires in faraway places when our neighbors are just burning…. I refuse to believe that we good people will forever turn our hearts and our eyes away. Haiti, I’m sorry.” — calypso singer David Rudder, quoted by President Godwin Friday of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
“Knowledge is like the ocean’s waves: It comes in many forms and sizes, yet no wave overpowers another, and all ultimately reach the same shore.” — one of a couple of Palauan sayings translated and quoted by Palau President Surangel Whipps
“How wonderful it is that no one has to wait, but we can start right now to gradually change the world!” — Anne Frank, referred to by Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who also quoted Mahatma Gandhi, Nuremberg war crimes trial prosecutor Robert H. Jackson and an inscription at a cemetery for American World War II soldiers in the Netherlands
