“Opportunity could be defined in so many ways. There's one way of defining it, equality of opportunity, which is in fact the equality of capability, but the libertarians got there first and they have - like the Americans getting onto the moon, naming every crater after something like an astronaut - they have got there and named "opportunity" in a way that we cannot get ownership of now.” WayFirstsFactsOpportunityMoonLibertarianDefinedOne WayCapabilityOwnershipDefiningAstronautEquality Of OpportunityCraters Author:Amartya Sen
“In all kinds of ways there are different freedoms that effect our lives and you can assess what our lives are like by looking at the various freedoms that we have.” WayKindDifferentOur LivesEffectsVariousAll Kinds Author:Amartya Sen
“The opportunities, income, schools facilities, the basic income support that the government provides or any of these things .. public transport arrangements we have.. all these are part of the way our lives and freedoms are effected.” WayGovernmentSchoolOpportunitySupportOur LivesIncomeArrangementsFacilityTransport Author:Amartya Sen
“Japan became an imperialist country in many ways, but that was much later, after it had already made big progress. I dont think Japans wealth was based on exploiting China. Japans wealth was based on its expansion in international trade.” ThinkingWayMadeCountryBigsWealthProgressTradeInternationalChinaJapanExpansionInternational Trade Author:Amartya Sen
“Women's education has a much greater impact [on], for example, fertility. Men's education, if our studies are correct, ha[s] almost no impact on fertility. Women's do. So, by the way, as a man, it's not to the glory of men specifically that it's women's education that reduces child mortality.” IfsMenWayChildrenStudyGreaterExampleGloryImpactMortalityFertilityWomen's Education Author:Amartya Sen
“Women had always been thought of as looking after the family when men go and earn an income and they're the bread earner and so on. So there is a kind of generation of inequality, [and], on top of the fact, women have pregnancies and periods, [and] when the children are very small, there are greater demands on their time. So one way or another women have had a pretty rough deal in the past, and there's no reason why that should continue, and any country that has tried to remedy that has succeeded in doing so.” MenWayShouldKindChildrenCountryReasonFactsPastDealsGreaterGenerationsPeriodsDemandIncomeBreadInequalityOne WayReason WhyNo ReasonRoughPregnancyRemedyAnother Woman Author:Amartya Sen
“South Korea at the end of the Second World War had a very low level of literacy. But suddenly, like in Japan, they determined they were going in that direction. In 20 years' time, they had transformed themselves. So when people go on saying that it's all because of perennial culture, which you cannot change, that's not the way the South Korean economy was viewed before the war ended. But again within 30 years, people went on saying there's an ancient culture in Korea that has been pro-education, which is true.” PeopleWorldWayYearsHas BeensWarEndsCultureLevelsEconomyGoes OnLowsSouthAncientDeterminedWar Of The WorldsJapanTransformedLiteracyKoreaKoreanSecond World WarLow LevelSouth Korea Author:Amartya Sen
“The higher education has always appealed to the South Asian social leaders across all the countries in South Asia. But primary education has been neglected. The oddity, by the way, is if you look at the contrast in India, there are some areas like Kerala where there's a long history of educational development.” IfsWayLooksLongHas BeensCountrySocialLeaderDevelopmentHigherAreasIndiaSouthEducationalPrimariesContrastAsiaAsianNeglectedHigher EducationOdditiesSouth AsiaPrimary Education Author:Amartya Sen
“Education makes us the human beings we are. It has major impacts on economic development, on social equity, gender equity. In all kinds of ways, our lives are transformed by education and security. Even if it had not one iota of effect [on] security, it would still remain in my judgment the biggest priority in the world.” IfsWorldWayHumansKindStillsSocialHuman BeingsOur LivesEconomicEffectsSecurityDevelopmentJudgmentMajorsImpactGenderPrioritiesAll KindsTransformedEquityEconomic Development Author:Amartya Sen
“The identity of just one thing, the "clash of civilization" view that you're a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist or a Christian, I think that's such a limited way of seeing humanity, and schools have the opportunity to bring out the fact that we have hundreds of identities. We have our national identity. We have our cultural identity, linguistic identity, religious identity. Yes, cultural identity, professional identity, all kinds of ways.” ThinkingWayKindFactsSchoolChristianHumanityOpportunityReligiousViewsSeeingOne ThingIdentityCivilizationAll KindsBuddhistJust OneClashCultural IdentityNational IdentityClash Of CivilizationsReligious Identity Author:Amartya Sen
“In absolutely every way, our lives are transformed by education and basic education in particular. So I would have thought that in any kind of system, to say that the priorities don't include education is a mistake, whether it's [at the] domestic level or at the global level.” WayKindLevelsMistakeOur LivesParticularPrioritiesTransformedBasic Education Author:Amartya Sen
“South Korea from a country that had relatively little primary education became close to universal literacy in the course of 25, 30 years, in a way trying to replicate what Japan had done earlier. They were learning to some extent from the Japanese experience too. So I think, in a sense, the East Asians were following a path, which all other countries including South Asia could follow but chose not too.” ThinkingWayTryingYearsLittlesCountryDoneCoursesPathUniversalSouthIncludingFollowingEastPrimariesJapanOther CountriesAsiaLiteracyKoreaReplicateSouth KoreaSouth AsiaPrimary Education Author:Amartya Sen
“People's identities as Indians, as Asians, or as members of the human race, seemed to give way - quite suddenly - to sectarian identification with Hindu, Muslim, or Sikh communities.” PeopleWayGivingHumansCommunityRaceIdentityMembersIndianHuman RaceHinduismIdentification Book:Reason Before Identity: The Romanes Lecture for 1998 Source: Reason Before Identity: The Romanes Lecture for 1998
“When the Nobel award came my way, it also gave me an opportunity to do something immediate and practical about my old obsessions, including literacy, basic health care and gender equity, aimed specifically at India and Bangladesh.” WayCareOpportunityIndiaIncludingGenderPracticalsObsessionMy WayHealth CareAwardsLiteracyEquityNobelBangladesh Author:Amartya Sen
“Any classification according to a singular identity polarizes people in a particular way, but if we take note of the fact that we have many different identities - related not just to religion but also to language, occupation and business, politics, class and poverty, and many others - we can see that the polarization of one can be resisted by a fuller picture. So knowledge and understanding are extremely important to fight against singular polarization.” PeopleIfsWayImportantDifferentFactsFightingLanguageUnderstandingClassPovertyKnowledgeIdentityParticularDiversityNotesRelatedOccupationBrotherhoodUnity In DiversityClassificationPolarizationKnowledge And Understanding Author:Amartya Sen
“Human ordeals thrive on ignorance. To understand a problem with clarity is already half way towards solving it.” WayHumansProblemHalfIgnoranceClarityThriveOrdealsHalf Way Author:Amartya Sen
