John Hume Quotes

• Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace: respect for diversity.

  John Hume

  Respect, Lying, Differences

  83 Copy quote

• The basis of peace and stability, in any society, has to be the fullest respect for the human rights of all its people.

  John Hume

  Respect, Peace, Rights

  John Hume's Nobel Lecture in Oslo, Norway, www.nobelprize.org. December 10, 1998.

  26 Copy quote

• I never thought in terms of being a leader. I thought very simply in terms of helping people.

  John Hume

  Leadership, Kids, People

  32 Copy quote

• When people are divided, the only solution is agreement.

  John Hume

  Agreement, People, Divided

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  11 Copy quote

• All conflict is about difference; whether the difference is race religion, or nationality.

  John Hume

  Race, Differences, Diversity

  19 Copy quote

• Difference is of the essence of humanity.

  John Hume

  Essence, Differences, Diversity

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  16 Copy quote

• There were two mentalities, and both mentalities had to change. There was what I called the Afrikaner mind set of the Unionist politicians, which was holding all power in their own hands, and discriminating, and their objective was to protect their identity

  John Hume

  Hands, Two, Mind

  18 Copy quote

• We're much closer together in the world today than we ever were in the psot. Given that it is a much smaller world, we are in a stronger position to shape that world. As we enter the new century, and anew millennium, let us create a world in which there is no longer any war or any conflict.

  John Hume

  War, Together, Stronger

  7 Copy quote

• If the word 'No' was removed from the English language, Ian Paisley would be speechless.

  John Hume

  Would Be, Language, Speechless

  26 Copy quote

• The civil rights movement in the United States was about the same thing, about equality of treatment for all sections of the people, and that is precisely what our movement was about

  John Hume

  Pregnancy, Equality, Rights

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 08, 2002.

  8 Copy quote

• In coming to that agreement, my party had a clear philosophy throughout. In Northern Ireland, we should have institutions that respected the differences of the people and that gave no victory to either side.

  John Hume

  Philosophy, Party, Agreement

  11 Copy quote

• Total ghettoization, because they were in charge of public housing, the local council, and they deliberately located people in a ghetto situation in order to ensure that they maintained control.

  John Hume

  Ghetto, Order, People

  21 Copy quote

• Before the arrival of the Credit Union, people who were from the poor background or a working class background couldn't borrow from banks.

  John Hume

  Class, People, Credit

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  19 Copy quote

• They believed that Britain was in Ireland defending their own interests, therefore the Irish had the right to use violence to put them out. My argument was that that type of thinking was out of date.

  John Hume

  Thinking, Use, Violence

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  15 Copy quote

• The basic policy of the British Government was that since the majority of people in Northern Ireland wished to remain in the United Kingdom, that was that. We asked what would happen if the majority wanted something else, if the majority wanted to see Irish unity.

  John Hume

  Government, People, Unity

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  13 Copy quote

• I was grateful for the opportunity to make a difference. The political violence really started in 1970-1971. The political difficulties start a little bit beyond that.

  John Hume

  Grateful, Opportunity, Differences

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  15 Copy quote

• In my opinion, what changed the situation eventually - and, of course, it took a lot of time to change it, things like that don't change in a week or a fortnight - was the new educational system.

  John Hume

  Educational, Opinion, Week

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  32 Copy quote

• I grew up in Derry, of course, and it was - Derry was the worst example of Northern Ireland's discrimination.

  John Hume

  Example, Discrimination, Grew Up

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  12 Copy quote

• The violence had broken out in both sides, but our philosophy as a party was very, very clear.

  John Hume

  Broken Heart, Philosophy, Party

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievment Interview, www.achievement.org. June 08, 2002.

  7 Copy quote

• My father was unemployed and I was the eldest of seven children. We were very poor. And when you ask how did we support ourselves, the only funding that we had was unemployment payments.

  John Hume

  Children, Father, Support

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  64 Copy quote

• Like everybody at that age, I read an awful lot of pulp fiction. But at the same time, I also read quite a bit of history and read that as much for pleasure as part of a curriculum.

  John Hume

  Age, Fiction, Curriculum

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  9 Copy quote

• Therefore they should come to the table and reach an agreement that would protect their identity.

  John Hume

  Agreement, Identity, Tables

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  8 Copy quote

• These are the influences that everybody has. Some individuals might stand out because of one thing or another, but whether one's perception as a child of what was important or not is accurate, I don't know.

  John Hume

  Children, Perception, Important

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  7 Copy quote

• My father was a civil servant, fairly sort of middle ranking, low to middle ranking. He worked almost entirely in what was then called Administrative Labour, dealing with employment and unemployment issues

  John Hume

  Father, Issues, Unemployment

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

  8 Copy quote

• The only thing I shall talk about is my sporting achievements at school. My primary sporting achievement at school was that I dodged games for two complete years and was well through the third year before they discovered that I had completely avoided all games.

  John Hume

  School, Years, Games

  "Ireland's Champion of Civil Rights". The Academy of Achievement Interview, www.achievement.org. June 8, 2002.

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