Azerbaijan International


The Human Heart and Peace

"The human heart yearns for peace and love and freedom. Peace heals, elevates, and invigorates the spirit. Peace represents the health of humanity. To achieve peace, we must enlist our highest moral instincts. We must pledge, in the deepest recesses of our hearts, to respect others as we wish to be respected and to use good reason, persuasion, and good will, and not resort to a war of words or arms to influence opinions and policies. To achieve peace will require a powerful will, scrupulous character, steadfast courage, dogged discipline, and a passionate devotion to the noblest human principles. But the rewards more than justify our unremitting effort, for peace permits each of us to move forward, unimpeded, to improve humanity's lot."

Michael E. DeBakey, 90, the world's most famous heart surgeon, has just returned from Azerbaijan in August, where he met with President Aliyev to discuss plans for the establishment of a Medical Heart Center in Baku. DeBakey is Chancellor Emeritus at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

From Azerbaijan International (6.3) Autumn 1998.
© Azerbaijan International 1998. All rights reserved.

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