Secretary-General's impromptu remarks at a dinner for honorees of the University of Pennsylvania

Once, when I took over as Secretary-General in 1997, six weeks into the job, there was a piece in The New York Times, complaining that I had not reformed the UN. [laughter] And I usually have a monthly luncheon with the Security Council, so that month, I apologised to the 15 members of the Council for my failure to reform the UN in six weeks. [laughter] And the Russian Ambassador, the only Communist in the room, said, "What are you complaining about? You had more time than God." [laughter]

And I said, "You are right. But He had a unique advantage. He started with a clean canvas, without a Security Council, without a General Assembly, and He had the unique advantage of working alone." [laughter, applause] I'm indicating that, if there's an advantage, I'll give an arm and a leg for getting rid of all of you, to carry on with it. [laughter]

But it's really wonderful for Nane and myself and our team to be here with you this evening. I always get inspired when I come to a university campus, and as I walked in this evening, I saw Amy [Gutmann, University of Pennsylvania President]. She was looking so relaxed, and I said, "This is an important day for you. Your first commencement, and you're behaving as if you had all this time, and it's about the tenth or so." And to see the atmosphere, the spirit you've been able to create in a relatively short time, it's an inspiration to see her working for us, and to join her here.

I always feel that, when I come to universities, it's awkward. I sometimes feel younger, and also much older. I look at the students and ask myself, "Were we so young when we were their age, when we were at universities?" They seem so young, and then you realise that maybe you're the one getting older. [laughter] That there is a gap between you.

What I like about it is when the young ones come fresh, green and open to ideas, and open to absorb. I recall my own student days, when I came to the[United] States from Ghana. I came straight from Ghana, and my first days, I was in Minnesota. [laughter] Of course, we always come with our own baggage, and our own understandings of what we think the world is. Even in that climate, I felt that there were certain things I shouldn't do. Putting on sweaters and layers of clothing to keep warm -- that I felt was sensible, and I did that. I didn't like it, because we would normally walk around very lightly in the tropics, but it was necessary. But there was one item which I felt I would never use, because I felt it was inelegant, it was odd -- it was the earmuffs. [laughter]

So I said, I'm not going to use them. Until one day, I had gone to get something to eat, and I almost lost my ears. So the next day, I bought the biggest pair. [laughter] I walked away with a lesson: that you don't walk into a situation and believe you know better than the natives. You better listen to them and watch what they do. That's the way you learn from your environment.

The students have been here for four years and longer, but suddenly they're going to be released, and they have to go beyond the walls of their university into a world that is complex, exciting, difficult, confusing, and these days, even brutal. And I hope that what they have picked up here will help them navigate that environment. Things are moving, changing so fast in the world, that we all have to learn to be comfortable with the fluid and the ambiguous. And I hope the young ones who have gone through the education have learned and will be able to do that, and of course we, the older ones, will have to guide them. And I'm really very happy to be here at this commencement, to share their gains and be their classmate.

So we look forward to a great day tomorrow. Thanks for having us.