When I was giving a lecture in India, the capabilities that I have to be concerned with there, namely the ability of people to go to a school, to be literate, to be able to have a basic health care everywhere, to be able to seek some kind of medical response to one's ailment; these become central issues in the Indian context which they're not in the UK, because you're well beyond that.

There are few subjects that match the social significance of women's education in the contemporary world.

Gender inequality is not one problem, it's a collection of problems.

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

I guess some of the most delightful moments of my teenage years were when I was trying not just to educate myself but trying to educate others. And I could see how the lives of children could be transformed in that.

Nearly everywhere Buddhism went, there had been a higher level of literacy, even in miserable Burma, not to mention Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Imparting education not only enlightens the receiver, but also broadens the giver - the teachers, the parents, the friends.