“It is not the Soviet Union or indeed any other big Powers who need the United Nations for their protection. It is all the others.”

— Dag Hammarskjöld

Statement to the General Assembly of the United Nations (3 October 1960)
Context: It is not the Soviet Union or indeed any other big Powers who need the United Nations for their protection. It is all the others. In this sense, the Organization is first of all their Organization and I deeply believe in the wisdom with which they will be able to use it and guide it. I shall remain in my post during the term of my office as a servant of the Organization in the interests of all those other nations, as long as they wish me to do so. In this context the representative of the Soviet Union spoke of courage. It is very easy to resign; it is not so easy to stay on. It is very easy to bow to the wish of a big power. It is another matter to resist. As is well known to all Members of this Assembly, I have done so before on many occasions and in many directions. If it is the wish of those nations who see in the Organization their best protection in the present world, I shall now do so again.

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Dag Hammarskjöld 58

Swedish diplomat, economist, and author 1905–1961

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