I grew up in Derry, of course, and it was - Derry was the worst example of Northern Ireland's discrimination. John Hume More Quotes by John Hume More Quotes From John Hume Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace: respect for diversity. John Hume respect differences lying The basis of peace and stability, in any society, has to be the fullest respect for the human rights of all its people. John Hume respect rights peace I never thought in terms of being a leader. I thought very simply in terms of helping people. John Hume leadership kids people Total ghettoization, because they were in charge of public housing, the local council, and they deliberately located people in a ghetto situation in order to ensure that they maintained control. John Hume ghetto order people All conflict is about difference; whether the difference is race religion, or nationality. John Hume diversity differences race If the word 'No' was removed from the English language, Ian Paisley would be speechless. John Hume speechless language would-be Before the arrival of the Credit Union, people who were from the poor background or a working class background couldn't borrow from banks. John Hume credit class people There were two mentalities, and both mentalities had to change. There was what I called the Afrikaner mind set of the Unionist politicians, which was holding all power in their own hands, and discriminating, and their objective was to protect their identity John Hume mind two hands I was grateful for the opportunity to make a difference. The political violence really started in 1970-1971. The political difficulties start a little bit beyond that. John Hume grateful differences opportunity They believed that Britain was in Ireland defending their own interests, therefore the Irish had the right to use violence to put them out. My argument was that that type of thinking was out of date. John Hume violence use thinking Difference is of the essence of humanity. John Hume diversity differences essence The basic policy of the British Government was that since the majority of people in Northern Ireland wished to remain in the United Kingdom, that was that. We asked what would happen if the majority wanted something else, if the majority wanted to see Irish unity. John Hume unity government people When people are divided, the only solution is agreement. John Hume agreement divided people The civil rights movement in the United States was about the same thing, about equality of treatment for all sections of the people, and that is precisely what our movement was about John Hume equality rights pregnancy We're much closer together in the world today than we ever were in the psot. Given that it is a much smaller world, we are in a stronger position to shape that world. As we enter the new century, and anew millennium, let us create a world in which there is no longer any war or any conflict. John Hume stronger together war In coming to that agreement, my party had a clear philosophy throughout. In Northern Ireland, we should have institutions that respected the differences of the people and that gave no victory to either side. John Hume party agreement philosophy Like everybody at that age, I read an awful lot of pulp fiction. But at the same time, I also read quite a bit of history and read that as much for pleasure as part of a curriculum. John Hume curriculum age fiction In my opinion, what changed the situation eventually - and, of course, it took a lot of time to change it, things like that don't change in a week or a fortnight - was the new educational system. John Hume week opinion educational My father was unemployed and I was the eldest of seven children. We were very poor. And when you ask how did we support ourselves, the only funding that we had was unemployment payments. John Hume support father children Therefore they should come to the table and reach an agreement that would protect their identity. John Hume agreement tables identity
