Human life depends not only on income but also on social opportunities, [for example] what the state does for educating.

Poverty is not just a lack of money; it is not having the capability to realize one's full potential as a human being

Economic growth without investment in human development is unsustainable - and unethical.

The success of a society is to be evaluated primarily by the freedoms that members of the society enjoy.

Poverty is the deprivation of opportunity.

I believe that virtually all the problems in the world come from inequality of one kind or another.

Empowering women is key to building a future we want

Starvation is the characteristic of some people not having enough food to eat. It is not the characteristic of there being not enough food to eat.

Freedoms are not only the primary ends of development, they are also among its principal means.

Progress is more plausibly judged by the reduction of deprivation than by the further enrichment of the opulent

No famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy.

Septimus grinned. "It's not coins I seek. I seek the power of Hercules.

Having talent is like having blue eyes. You don't admire a man for the colour of his eyes. I admire a man for what he does with his talent.

Growing up is loving what you can afford to.

Nobody turns down an invitation to the White House, but I’ve seen plenty of people turn down an invitation to fully live.

I don't give up on commitments until what I've been asked to do is clearly finished.

It is a distinction to have many virtues, but a hard lot.

Much of the insensibility and hardness of the world is due to the lack of imagination which prevents a realization of the experiences of other people.

Songs are snapshots of things - it's likened to looking at pictures. It will never feel like it felt in real life. When you look at it, it always feels different. It's sort of the same with songs.

I'm not one of those writers who writes everyday.

We have become blind to the alternatives to violence.