“Tipsy, they tumbled early into bed - to get as much sleep as they could. So they would feel less hunger. The summer catch had been poor; there wasn't much food. They ate with care and looked sideways at the old: the old were gluttons, everybody knew it, and what was the good of feeding them? It wouldn't harm them to starve a little.
The hungry dogs howled. The women rinsed the children's bellies with hot water three times a day, so they wouldn't cry so much for food. The old starved silently. ("The North")”
Source: The Dragon: Fifteen Stories
“Not all developing countries are the same.”
Source: The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It
“Ард түмэн үхрийн мах худалдан авч чадахгүй байна, гэтэл архи түүнээс нь хямдхан байдаг, чухам иймээс л, орос эрчүүд ядуурлаас болж архи ууцгааж байна! Ард түмэн ном худалдан авч чадахгүй байна, яагаад гэвэл зах дээр Гоголь, Белинскийн аль нь ч байхгүй, харин хямд архи л дүүрэн бий, чухам иймээс л орос эрчүүд боловсролгүй бүдүүлгээсээ болж ууж байна. Дмитрий Писарев”
Source: Moscow to the End of the Line
“Theology alone doesn't convine anyone.
Only those words which are pregnant with action, theology that is born of suffering, of struggles, of the poor--this theology is a testimony. This theology leads to conversion. (Leonardo Boff, p. 169)”
Source: The Struggle Is One: Voices and Visions of Liberation
“Persuading everyone to behave decently to each other because the society is so fragile is a worthy goal, but it may be more straightforward just to make the societies less fragile, which means developing their economies.”
Source: The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It
“This is the basis for the most important critique of microfinance. The poor are not entrepreneurs. The idea that more than a few will turn tiny loans into a viable business is simply unrealistic.”
Source: Freedom From Want: The Remarkable Success Story of BRAC, the Global Grassroots Organization That's Winning the Fight Against Poverty
“One can slide between poor and rich, the difference as slight as between paper and parchment, one voice and a choir, arms hanging by sides and a hug.”
Source: Borrowed Names: Poems About Laura Ingalls Wilder, Madam C.J. Walker, Marie Curie, and Their Daughters
“Suppose a country starts its independence with the three economic characteristics that globally make a country prone to civil war: low income, slow growth, and dependence upon primary commodity exports. It is playing Russian roulette. That is not just an idle metaphor: the risk that a country in the bottom billion falls into civil war in any five-year period is nearly one in six, the same risk facing a player of Russian roulette.”
Source: The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It
“En el aspecto social, la inclusión es el principio básico. Nuestro lema son los pobres primero y para los pobres los mejores instrumentos, los mejores maestros, las mejores infraestructuras. La cultura para los pobres no puede ser una pobre cultura. Debe ser grande, ambiciosa, refinada, avanzada, nada de sobras. Además, ellos multiplican su efecto, porque son enormemente agradecidos ante el esfuerzo. No es práctico incorporar a su vida esa faceta como si fuera un florero.”
“Last year I pledged to give the majority of my wealth back to the society that helped generate it, to do it thoughtfully, to get started soon, and to keep at it until the safe is empty. There's no question in my mind that anyone's personal wealth is the product of a collective effort, and of social structures which present opportunities to some people, and obstacles to countless others.”