UN General Assembly
1972

58. When we think of the future of the United Nations, we cannot forget its past either. After the First World War the League of Nations came into being, but was dissolved amid the events following the outbreak of the Second World War. The United Nations was established after the end of the Second World War. Its founders drew a lesson from the experiences of the two World Wars. Nevertheless, this Organization has often found itself in a state of crisis during the past few years. Among the many factors that have saved the existence of this Organization there has been a special, personal factor: die former Secretary-General of the United Nations, UThant. Not only this Organization but the whole of mankind have gone through extremely critical periods in the past years. The wisdom of our former Secretary-General, his responsiveness to human and social problems, his modesty and humility before the great facts of history revealed to us the impressive greatness of his calling in the world and helped many of us to discharge the accumulating tasks confronting the United Nations.