First Arvid Pardo memorial lecture - a renewed council-guardian of future generations : Malta's initiative at the United Nations

Abstract

We islanders are born dreamers. We are touched by the magic of the sea. As we gaze at the horizon, we have a feeling of reaching out. Sometimes we feel the sea as a barrier keeping us away from the rest of the world. Sometimes we feel the protective nature of the sea holding us in a fold, creating a sense of inward-looking affection. But more often than not the sea is us; a sense of collective mare nostrum which inspires us, leads us to adventure, makes of us navigators, inquisitive and acquisitive. The hidden Ulysses in us waves through dangers and mishaps. For the sea is adventure, faring the unknown, meeting people, bearer of a 'people to people' approach. And whether we daydreamers come from the Mediterranean or the Pacific, whether we face the Atlantic or pass through the Sea of Marmara or splash down the Indian Ocean, for us the sea is never the dead sea.