The Lord had the wonderful advantage of being able to work alone.

Annan’s quip contrasts divine omnipotence with the realities of human institutions. The “wonderful advantage” of working alone points to how much harder it is to achieve moral or political aims when outcomes depend on negotiation, consent, and coordination among many actors with competing interests. Read in light of Annan’s public role in multilateral diplomacy, it underscores a recurring theme in international governance: even when a goal seems self-evidently good, collective action is slow, compromised, and constrained by sovereignty, bureaucracy, and politics. The line also carries a gentle irony—invoking “the Lord” to highlight that humans, unlike God, must persuade and collaborate rather than simply will results into being.