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Muhammad Yunus

Muhammad Yunus Quotes

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Famous Muhammad Yunus Quotes

“Engaging in social business is beneficial to a company because it leverages on business competencies to address social issues, involves one-time investment with sustainable results, and produces other positive effects such as employee motivation and improved organizational culture.”

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“The new millennium began with a great global dream. World leaders gathered at the United Nations in 2000 and adopted, among others, a historic goal to reduce poverty by half by 2015. Never in human history had such a bold goal been adopted by the entire world in one voice, one that specified time and size.”

WorldHumansDreamNationsGoalVoiceUnitedHalfLeaderPovertySizeUnited NationsAdoptedHistoricHuman HistoryMillenniumWorld LeaderDream World
Book:Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism
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“Unprecedented technological capabilities combined with unlimited human creativity have given us tremendous power to take on intractable problems like poverty, unemployment, disease, and environmental degradation. Our challenge is to translate this extraordinary potential into meaningful change.”

HumansProblemGivenChallengesPovertyCreativityDiseaseEnvironmentalExtraordinaryMeaningfulCapabilityTranslateTechnologicalUnemploymentUnlimitedDegradationUnprecedentedEnvironmental Degradation
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“Once poverty is gone, we'll need to build museums to display its horrors to future generations. They'll wonder why poverty continued so long in human society - how a few people could live in luxury while billions dwelt in misery, deprivation and despair.”

PeopleNeedsHumansLongPoorBusinessWonderPovertyGoneGenerationsHorrorDespairMiseryCharityBillionsLuxuryMuseumsDisplayFuture GenerationHuman SocietyDeprivation
Book:Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism
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“What I did not know yet about hunger, but would find out over the next twenty-one years, was that brilliant theorists of economics do not find it worthwhile to spend time discussing issues of poverty and hunger. They believe that these will be resolved when general economic prosperity increases. These economists spend all their talents detailing the process of development and prosperity, but rarely reflect on the origin and development of poverty and hunger. A a result, poverty continues.”

KnowsYearsBelieveNextProcessResultsPovertyIssuesEconomicTalentDevelopmentEconomicsIncreaseTwentiesHungerProsperityBrilliantWorthwhileEconomistSpend TimeDiscussingTwenty OneTheoristsEconomic Prosperity
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“When a destitute mother starts earning an income, her dreams of success invariably center around her children. A woman's second priority is the household. She wants to buy utensils, build a stronger roof, or find a bed for herself and her family. A man has an entirely different set of priorities. When a destitute father earns extra income, he focuses more attention on himself. Thus money entering a household through a woman brings more benefits to the family as a whole.”

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“Even today we don't pay serious attention to the issue of poverty, because the powerful remain relatively untouched by it. Most people distance themselves from the issue by saying that if the poor worked harder, they wouldn't be poor.”

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Book:Banker To The Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty
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“When we want to help the poor, we usually offer them charity. Most often we use charity to avoid recognizing the problem and finding the solution for it. Charity becomes a way to shrug off our responsibility. But charity is no solution to poverty. Charity only perpetuates poverty by taking the initiative away from the poor. Charity allows us to go ahead with our own lives without worrying about the lives of the poor. Charity appeases our consciences.”

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“UN studies conducted in more than forty developing countries show that the birth rate falls as women gain equality... I believe income-earning opportunities that empower poor women ... will have more impact on curbing population growth that the current system of "encouraging" family planning practices through intimidation tactics.. Family planning should be left to the family.”

ShouldBelieveCountryShowsFallOpportunityLeftI BelieveGrowthPoorPracticeStudyBirthGainsImpactRatePopulationCurrentsPlanningIncomeDevelopingEmpoweringFortyEarningTacticsIntimidationDeveloping CountriesPopulation GrowthFamily PlanningBirth Rate
Author:Muhammad Yunus
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“To me, the poor are like Bonsai trees. When you plant the best seed of the tallest tree in a six-inch deep flower pot, you get a perfect replica of the tallest tree, but it is only inches tall. There is nothing wrong with the seed you planted; only the soil-base you provided was inadequate. Poor people are bonsai people. There is nothing wrong with their seeds. Only society never gave them a base to grow on.”

PeopleGrowsPerfectPoorTreeFlowerSixPlantSeedsSoilTallPotInchesPoor PeopleInadequateReplicaBonsai
Book:Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism
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