UN General Assembly
1951

52. A synthetic and harmonious solution of the problem entails on both sides courageous forethought, freedom from prejudice and wise restraint. These, apparently, are not easily forthcoming. A sense of superiority, born of a privileged position enjoyed without challenge for a considerable length of time, dies hard and is not quickly discarded. Insistence on legal rights is not always mitigated by regard for genuine and deep-seated psychological susceptibilities. Too often, undue reliance is placed on economic rationalism, on the assumed in dispensability of outside assistance, or on the inexorability of economic logic. The part played in the counsels of poorer and weaker States by their own appreciation of what is their fundamental national interest, and by considerations of national pride and self-respect, is underestimated. That one can be proud while poor — and even particularly proud just because one is poor — is not always realized. Fatal blunders are sometimes committed through disregard of these elementary truths.