Anwar Sadat Lecture for Peace

I must mention that I am very happy and it is a great honor to deliver the Anwar Sadat Lecture for Peace. As president, he took really decisive, bold steps to create peace in his part of the world, and I was an admirer from a distance. Today I’ve met his widow and I was so happy, it was such a great honor, and I expressed to her my admiration for her late husband. If he had kept suspicion or hatred inside himself, it would have been very difficult to have such courage. A wider, more holistic way of thinking that looks at the long-term interests – where you respect, talk, shake hands with your enemy and look at the differences and similarities between yourselves – this is best.

Everybody wants peace and nobody wants problems or violence, which always creates suffering. The worst aspect of violence is that it is unpredictable. Once committed, even if there was a good motivation or aim in mind, because the method was violent, there will be unexpected consequences. This always happens. So I feel it is a great honor to talk under his name, and I’d like to thank the university and the concerned people who gave me this opportunity.

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