SHARED IDEALS
PREAMBLE TO UNITED NATIONS CHARTER, 1945
“WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED
to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
AND FOR THESE ENDS
to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,
HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS. . .”
OBSERVATIONAL COMMENTARY
“To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers.
It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers; but extremely fit for a nation that is governed by shopkeepers. . .”
—Adam Smith, 1723-1790 (“The Wealth of Nations”)
COMMON LOT
“There was a young man of Montrose,
Who had pockets in none of his clothes. . .
When asked by his lass
where he carried his brass. . .
He said, ‘Darling, I pay through the nose.'”
—Enoch Arnold Bennett, 1867-1931
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