"Extreme poverty threatens people's right to life itself and makes impossible the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms essential to a humane way of life."

"I cannot say this too strongly: Do not compare yourselves to others. Be true to who you are, and continue to learn with all your might."

"When human beings live together, conflict is inevitable. War is not."

"Since ancient times, people from throughout Asia have brought to Japan their talents, knowledge and energy, helping to lay the basis for Japan's existence as a country."

"Likewise, education can direct people toward good or evil ends. When education is based on a fundamentally distorted worldview, the results are horrific."

"Men and women who know the brutal reality of war, who know that war strips people of their very humanity, must unite in a new global partnership for peace."

"Rather than turning away from the staggering scale and depth of misery caused by war, we must strive to develop our capacity to empathize and feel the sufferings of others."

"People need to be made conscious of a very simple reality: we have no choice but to share this planet, this small blue sphere floating in the vast reaches of space, with all of our fellow 'passengers.'"

"Dialogue and education for peace can help free our hearts from the impulse toward intolerance and the rejection of others."

"It is much more valuable to look for the strength in others. You can gain nothing by criticizing their imperfections."

"Living here on Earth, we breathe the rhythms of a universe that extends infinitely above us. When resonant harmonies arise between this vast outer cosmos and the inner human cosmos, poetry is born."

"Faced with stress, too many people feel they have nowhere to turn to, that they don't have access to the kind of friendships or communities where they can easily and openly share their problems and worries."

"The problems of aging present an opportunity to rethink our social and personal lives in order to ensure the dignity and welfare of each individual."

"The gratification of desire is not happiness."

"Ultimately, all human activities have as their goal the realization of happiness. Why, then, have we ended up producing the opposite result? Could the underlying cause be our failure to correctly understand the true nature of happiness?"

"A great human revolution in just a single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a nation and, further, can even enable a change in the destiny of all humankind."

"Humanity has experienced many revolutionary changes over the course of history: revolutions in agriculture, in science, industrial production, as well as numerous political revolutions. But these have all been limited to the external aspects of our individual and collective lives."

"I believe that we must maintain pride in the knowledge that the actions we take, based on our own decisions and choices as individuals, link directly to the magnificent challenge of transforming human history."

"A person, who no matter how desperate the situation, gives others hope, is a true leader."

"We must take steps to prevent further nuclear weapons development or modernization."

"No one should be left to suffer alone."

"But I believe we must not allow feelings of defeat to take root in our hearts."

"Human rights will be a powerful force for the transformation of reality when they are not simply understood as externally defined norms of behavior but are lived as the spontaneous manifestation of internalized values."

"It is only through such real-life daily struggles and challenges that a genuine sensitivity to human rights can be inculcated. This is a truth that is not limited to school education: it applies to all of us."