Words to live by

Folio Staff

“The existence of extraordinary disparities in the distribution of wealth within and between countries, resulting in millions of people worldwide living in conditions of extreme poverty, betrays the promise contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and is a call, if not on our conscience, then I will say, at least, on our instinct for self preservation.”
– Louise Arbour, former Supreme Court Justice and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who received an honorary doctor of laws degree on June 3.

“Failure is routine, if not inevitable, in what we do. Failure has taught me many things that I could not have learned any other way.”
– Michael Hayden, world renowned geneticist and director of the Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of British Columbia, who received an honorary doctor of science degree on June 4.

“The misuse of natural resources seemed like a puzzling and preventable tragedy to me.”
– James Thorsell, famed conservationist and U of A alumnus, who received an honorary doctor of laws degree on June 4.

“Those of you who will be delivering health care in the coming years face a major challenge - specifically, to explain to your patients in terms that are comprehensible to them, why much of the information to which they are exposed is not science, but rather science fiction, not a thoughtful analysis of information, but often a manipulation of facts, and not a valid conclusion based on evidence, but rather a dogma or ideology, a philosophy based on commercial interests.”
– Eliot Phillipson, internationally recognized respiratory physiologist, who accepted an honorary doctorate of sciences on June 5.

“If we all add a small particle to the vast needs on this planet, surely it will be better for everyone.”
– Dianne Kipnes, Edmonton philanthropist, who accepted an honorary doctor of laws degree on June 8.

“There is no static point in life; change happens whether it is the result of our own decisions or decisions forced upon us by circumstance. Even in disaster you may find opportunity.”
– Irving Kipnes, Edmonton philanthropist, who accepted an honorary doctor of laws degree on June 8.

“I hope you will do whatever you do, not because of consequences but because it is appropriate for the human being you aspire to be. Most of all, I wish you a life in which you are able to honestly say, to yourself and to others, ‘Yo sé quién soy—I know who I am,’ and don’t forget to wear sunscreen.”
– James March, professor emeritus at Stanford University and famed organizational theorist, quoting from Don Quixote de la Mancha while accepting an honorary doctorate of laws degree on June 9.

“The great universities of the world have a special mission—a high calling, I believe—to take a leading role in the struggle to eliminate knowledge deficits which challenge our world—a role which your university has been playing so well.”
– His Highness the Aga Khan, who received an honorary doctor of laws on June 9.

Watch for words of wisdom from the final honorary degree recipients—Juliet McMaster, Rudy Wiebe, Sheila Watt-Cloutier and Yves Fouron—in the next issue of Folio.  

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