Alfred Nobel, in his will, stated that the Peace Prize would be given to those who “shall have done the most or the best work for holding and promotion of peace all over the world. “The Oxford Dictionary of Twentieth Century World History, states that the Nobel Peace Prize is “the world’s most prestigious prize awarded for the ‘preservation of peace’.”
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, winner of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, stated that the first United Nations peacekeeping operation was “an attempt to confront and defeat the worst in man with the best in man; to counter violence with tolerance, and might with moderation, and war with peace.”
The twentieth century saw more momentous change for better, change for worst; change that brought enormous benefits to human beings, change that threatens the very existence of the human species,” said Sir Joseph Rotblat, the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize winner. But, Mother Theresa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 said,” I choose the poverty of our poor people. But I am grateful to receive (the Nobel) in the name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, and all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared-for throughout society…”
When 18-year-old Alexander Aris accepted the Peace Prize on behalf of his mother Aung San Suu Kyi, he said, “She would say this prize belongs not to her, but to all those men, women and childres will continue to sacrifice their well-being and their-freedom.”
“Many have wondered why Alfred Nobel, whose main research area was chemistry, would give one fifth of his estate for the founding of a peace prize.,” said Mrs. Lionaes in 1971, when Mr. Willy Brandt received the Prize.
Lester Pearson summed it up. “Our age is one of trouble and tension violence. It is also one of great progress and achievement. It holds both the promise of a far better life for all men and the threat of no life at all for mankind. Which is it to be?”