12+ Roméo Dallaire Quotes (Advocacy, Leadership And Compassion)

Roméo Dallaire is a Canadian Senator and retired Lieutenant-General. He is best known for his service as Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda during the Rwandan Genocide. He is an outspoken advocate for human rights, mental health, and child soldiers.

I know there is a God because in Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I have touched him. I know the devil exists and therefore I know there is a God. — Roméo Dallaire

The reason why we believe that change is possible is not because we are idealists but because we believe we have made it, so other people can make it as well. — Roméo Dallaire

I am still suffering from my experience in Rwanda, I never know when I'm going to drive my car off a bridge, or just decide to take my life. — Roméo Dallaire

There was no way to laugh anymore, to love, to care, and there was a sense of guilt in having survived when others had been killed. I turned into a worse workaholic than I had already been by trying to work myself into the ground. — Roméo Dallaire

The night I flew out from Rwanda, I landed in Nairobi, and I was on my way back home, and my left side started to paralyze and remained paralyzed with pain, and the stress and so on began to appear physically. — Roméo Dallaire

Is the human condition not defined by an endless struggle to control the ego's subterfuges? — Roméo Dallaire

Now is the time to take up the cause of the advancement of human rights for all and the moment is yours to grasp. — Roméo Dallaire

Those who are mastering more and more the communications revolution, those who realize that there are no borders in the world, are the ones who are going to leap ahead. — Roméo Dallaire

It may seem unimaginable to you that child soldiers exist and yet the reality for many rebel and gang leaders, and even state governments, is that there is no more complete end-to-end weapon system in the inventory of war machines than the child soldierMan has created the ultimate cheap, expendable, yet sophisticated human weapon at the expense of humanity's own future: its children. — Roméo Dallaire

Where you are born should not dictate your potential as a human being. — Roméo Dallaire

For most countries, serving the UN's objectives has never seemed worth even the smallest of risks. Member nations do not want a large, reputable, strong and independent United Nations, no matter their hypocritical pronouncements otherwise. What they want is a weak, beholden, indebted scapegoat of an organization, which they can blame for their failures or steal victories from. — Roméo Dallaire

Are all humans human, or are some more human than others? — Roméo Dallaire

Life Lessons by Roméo Dallaire

1. Roméo Dallaire's work demonstrates the importance of standing up for what is right, even in the face of great adversity. He has shown that it is possible to make a difference in the world, no matter how daunting the task may seem.
2. His work in Rwanda, as well as his tireless advocacy for the protection of vulnerable populations, serves as an example of how one person can make a real impact on the world.
3. Roméo Dallaire's life and work is an inspiration to us all, reminding us that we can all make a difference if we are willing to stand up and fight for what we believe in.