UN General Assembly
1955

155. So, finally, let us realize that, in the face of these great problems, it is our business to listen to the voice of destiny. History is replete with examples of the truth that the solution of problems by means that are contrary to ends always results in tragedy. That was the fate of the Congress of Vienna, That was the fate of the League of Nations. One cannot reconcile dreams with schemes. If we must have schemes, we will be schemers. If we are going in pursuit of an ideal, then we should not be obsessed by the thought of the poet who, in the mid-war years, reflected the temper of that period of great despondency and cynicism when he said: “In this great hour of destiny they stand each with disputes, jealousies and sorrows.” But instead should we say, like the bard who belonged to the age of the Renaissance and of constructive endeavour, that “we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures”.