UN General Assembly
1950

123. It has rightly been stressed during this debate that the real end of all our efforts is the well-being of the individual and of masses of individuals. The immense continents of Asia and Africa teem with hundreds of millions of human beings steeped in degradation and misery. The denial to them of the blessings of civilized life darkens the world’s horizon with a grave and ever present menace. Even if the present world conflict were peacefully resolved, as long as glaring inequalities of wealth and knowledge remain perpetuated on a gigantic scale, the peace of the world will be in jeopardy. The removal, or at least the reduction, of these inequalities, is at once the most challenging and the most felicitous task of world statesmanship.