I have come to believe, deeply and firmly, that we can create a poverty free world if we want to. I came to this conclusion not as a product of a pious dream, but as a concrete result of experience gained in the work of the Grameen Bank.

The poor themselves can create a poverty-free world. All we have to do is to free them from the chains that we have put around them!

All human beings are born entrepreneurs. Some get a chance to unleash that capacity. Some never got the chance, never knew that he or she has that capacity.

The process of breaking down fear was always my greatest challenge and it was made easier by the careful work and gentle voices of my female workers.

People.. were poor not because they were stupid or lazy. They worked all day long, doing complex physical tasks. They were poor because the financial institution in the country did not help them widen their economic base.

I went to the bank and proposed that they lend money to the poor people. The bankers almost fell over.

What I learned in school, what I learned in the educational part of my life. Trying to acquire a kind of a bird's eye view. You drive hard and see everything. And that's called education because now you can see everything.