If information and knowledge are central to democracy, they are the conditions for development.

You need to be careful not to over-reach and also assess the capacity you have to work with.

We tend to look at countries in terms of failed states and functioning states, which is rather simplistic.

In a world of plenty, continued suffering is a terrible stain on our conscience. It is inexcusable that we not strive, with every resource at our disposal, to eliminate suffering.

Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress and the means through which every man, woman and child can realize his or her full potential.

However much one tries to suppress the will of the people they eventually will have the last word.

I used to tell the story about as a young man in high school one of the professors came in and put a broad white sheet on the board with a dot in the right hand corner and said, "Boys, what do you see?" And we all shouted, a black dot. He stood back and said, "not a single one of you saw the broad white sheet, you all saw the black dot." He went on to tell us to focus on the broader picture, don't focus on the negative.