Sir Brian Urquhart - “a living chronicle” of life at the UN

Forwarding an article from UN News Centre, "Interview with former UN official Brian Urquhart (Part 1)" with gratitude to the UN New Centre.


"... there’s an enormous good in humanity and you need to do your best to help that along ..."

 

Quoting from the article/interview:

 

UN News Centre: “Teach us, good Lord, to serve thee as thou deservest; To give, and not to count the cost, to fight, and not to heed the wounds, to toil, and not to seek for rest, to labor, and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do thy will.” You wrote that even though you are not religious, these words drilled into your mind during your time at Westminster have provided you comfort in times of stress. How so?

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Sir Brian Urquhart: I think it is the most brilliant description of something you ought to try to live up to – it’s the Jesuit prayer. The fact that one fails all the time is neither here nor there. You know, if you have an idea that there’s an enormous good in humanity and you need to do your best to help that along – well, that I suppose is a sort of religion in a way, it’s a faith anyway – and if you want to know how to do it, then that’s a very good prescription.

 

 United Nations News Centre - Interview with former UN official Brian Urquhart (Part 1)

 

United Nations News Centre - Interview with Brian Urquhart, former Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, on Dag Hammarskjöld  (Part 2)