“The ‘Third World’ is a term I don’t like very much because we’re all one world. I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is suffering.”
- May 4, 1929 – January 20, 1993
- British
- Actress, Humanitarian, Fashion Icon, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
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Quote
“The ‘Third World’ is a term I don’t like very much because we’re all one world. I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is suffering.”
Explanation
In this quote, Audrey Hepburn challenges the divisive and hierarchical language often used in global discourse. By rejecting the term “Third World,” she critiques its implication of inferiority or separateness, emphasizing instead that humanity is interconnected. Her statement—“we’re all one world”—asserts a moral and emotional unity, urging us to see those in poverty or crisis not as distant others, but as part of our shared human family.
As a UNICEF ambassador, Hepburn visited some of the most impoverished regions on Earth and witnessed systemic suffering and neglect. Her insistence that “the largest part of humanity is suffering” was not rhetorical—it was based on firsthand experience and driven by a desire to awaken global empathy. She wanted the world, especially those in comfort, to confront the reality that most of the planet lives in conditions of deprivation.
Today, this quote resonates as a call to reject complacency and global indifference. Hepburn reminds us that language matters, and so does perspective. When we recognize our shared human dignity, we move closer to building a world defined not by categories and borders, but by compassion, justice, and collective responsibility.
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