Most Cited Figures (1980-1989)
Cold War leaders Reagan and Gorbachev dominated mentions as superpower relations evolved. Nelson Mandela, though imprisoned, became the most cited moral figure as the anti-apartheid movement intensified. Olof Palme's assassination in 1986 led to tributes from across the globe.
Notable Quotations
"Our world faces two deadly and hitherto unknown dilemmas, peace or total self-destruction, and a just international economic order or the most horrible fate for the vast majority of the peoples of the earth represented here, even if peace prevailed."
Fidel Castro•Cited by Cuba (1986)
View Speech →"Everywhere in the world there is a growing conviction in the minds of the peoples and in political public circles and widely differing in their orientation and outlook that what is at stake is the survival of mankind and that the time has come for decisive and responsible action."
Mikhail Gorbachev•Cited by Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (1986)
View Speech →"The extremisms of the right or of the left seek totality, that is to say, the elimination of differences, and not unity, which is the harmony of contrasts."
Albert Camus•Cited by Argentina (1986)
View Speech →"An injustice to one is a threat to all."
Montesquieu•Cited by Uruguay (1985)
View Speech →"Man is more than race, more than white or black."
José Martí•Cited by Cuba (1985)
View Speech →