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The question

If you could put a message on a giant billboard, what would it say and why?
Kofi Annan

Secretary-General of the United Nations, 1997–2006

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here
In this new century, we must start from the understanding that peace belongs not only to states or peoples, but to each and every member of those communities. The sovereignty of States must no longer be used as a shield for gross violations of human rights. Peace must be made real and tangible in the daily existence of every individual in need. Peace must be sought, above all, because it is the condition for every member of the human family to live a life of dignity and security.

Oslo City Hall, The Nobel Foundation, 10 December 2001 source ↗

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Martin Luther King Jr. Baptist minister; President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference 1957–1968
Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.
Recorded Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, Stanford University, 4 February 1968 source ↗
Richard Feynman Theoretical physicist; Nobel laureate in Physics, 1965
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself—and you are the easiest person to fool. So you have to be very careful about that. After you've not fooled yourself, it's easy not to fool other scientists. You just have to be honest in a conventional way after that.
Recorded Caltech commencement address, Pasadena, California, Caltech Engineering and Science (Caltech Library archive), 1 June 1974 source ↗
Mellody Hobson Co-chief executive and president of Ariel Investments
We cannot afford to be color blind. We have to be color brave. We have to be willing, as teachers and parents and entrepreneurs and scientists, we have to be willing to have proactive conversations about race with honesty and understanding and courage, not because it's the right thing to do, but because it's the smart thing to do, because our businesses and our products and our science, our research, all of that will be better with greater diversity.
Recorded TED2014, 20 March 2014 source ↗
Siya Kolisi South Africa international rugby union flanker and captain
To be remembered for all the things that you do and as someone who makes people smile, touches people's lives – that is what should wake you up every single morning.
Recorded Red Bull, 8 November 2019 source ↗

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Martin Luther King Jr., Jacinda Ardern, Ronald Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mikhail Gorbachev, Wangari Maathai

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