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Portrait of Harri Holkeri

Harri Holkeri

(1937–2011) Politician

30 quotes in 215 categories

Harri Holkeri was a politician, best known for Itsenäisiä ajatuksia.

Quick Facts About Harri Holkeri

Born: January 6, 1937
Died: August 7, 2011
Profession: Politician
Notable works: Itsenäisiä ajatuksia

About Harri Holkeri

Harri Hermanni Holkeri was a Finnish statesman representing the National Coalition Party of Finland. He was the Prime Minister of Finland 1987–1991, president of the UN General Assembly 2000–2001 and headed the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo from 2003 to 2004.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Quotes by Harri Holkeri

In every European nation, there have been problems in history when the society was too divided.

Divided

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In Finland, we learned quite a lot from our own civil war. The wounds were visible when I was a boy, but…

Any

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When my first child was born in 1962, I wrote a letter to my grandfather telling him how happy I was but…

Born

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That is where consensus-building begins-with the idea that you have your own truth, but that the negotiator on the other side of…

Building

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You cannot make easy decisions unless you first commit yourself to hard solutions.

Cannot

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If there is something I would like to do as President of the General Assembly, it is to place more emphasis on…

Assembly

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I really do hope that the Millennium Summit gives new impetus to the work of the United Nations.

Giving

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My opinion on who's wrong or who's right has nothing to do with the fact that we have to bring together people…

Antagonism

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I do not want to speak about overpopulation or birth control, but I think education is the way to give new impetus…

Birth

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What we can do as individuals may not be very much on the global scale, but we have to start the change…

Change

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There are many challenges, there are many obstacles; let us try to change the obstacles to advantages.

Advantage

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We Finns represent a very transparent and open-minded way of reaching political decisions.

Open minded

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If you come to a negotiation table saying you have the final truth, that you know nothing but the truth and that…

Finals

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I think I can regard myself as a political decision-maker.

Decision

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In Finland we have equal political rights for women and men. We do not regard ourselves according to sex.

Equal

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Without accepting the other person's thinking, you cannot further your own interest. You need the other's help to get results.

Accepting

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We have the tools, but we have to learn how to use them. That is my political philosophy.

How

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Without rebuilding the confidence between parties, you will never succeed.

Confidence

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I think we have grave problems. I am very much concerned about environmental questions, even though in Finnish society, we are not…

About

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When the problems in Northern Ireland started, it was not a question of Protestantism or Catholicism, because the Catholic church was the…

Catholic

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There are big issues, like the reform of the Security Council. These kinds of questions are something the President of the General…

Assembly

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Finland had a civil war less than 100 years ago, just like in Ireland. If you look at the history of newly…

Civil war

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Discussion is just a tool. You have to aim; the final goal must be a decision.

Aim

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If we go back in the history of different nations, violence and the use of force are part of their heritage. These…

Culture

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The Baltic Sea is becoming more and more polluted. Not everybody living near the shore of the Baltic Sea is protecting it.…

Becoming

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