To say that certainly America was very lucky to get a large amount of land, and the native Indians were extremely unlucky to have white men coming over here, is one thing. But to say that the whole of the American prosperity was based on exploiting the indigenous population would be a great mistake.

Amartya Sen

Categorized in : Men Mistake White Man

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

Amartya Sen

full-potential poverty realizing

Economic growth without investment in human development is unsustainable - and unethical.

Amartya Sen

investment growth development

Human development, as an approach, is concerned with what I take to be the basic development idea: namely, advancing the richness of human life, rather than the richness of the economy in which human beings live, which is only a part of it.

Amartya Sen

economy development ideas

I believe that virtually all the problems in the world come from inequality of one kind or another.

Amartya Sen

kind believe world

Education makes us the human beings we are. It has major impacts on economic development, on social equity, gender equity. In all kinds of ways, our lives are transformed by education and security. Even if it had not one iota of effect [on] security, it would still remain in my judgment the biggest priority in the world.

Amartya Sen

priorities impact development

The success of a society is to be evaluated primarily by the freedoms that members of the society enjoy.

Amartya Sen

members enjoy

Poverty is the deprivation of opportunity.

Amartya Sen

challenges opportunity inspire

Empowering women is key to building a future we want

Amartya Sen

empowering keys want

Starvation is the characteristic of some people not having enough food to eat. It is not the characteristic of there being not enough food to eat.

Amartya Sen

characteristics enough people

No famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy.

Amartya Sen

democracy taken world

We need to ask the moral questions: Do I have a right to be rich? And do I have a right to be content living in a world with so much poverty and inequality? These questions motivate us to view the issue of inequality as central to human living.

Amartya Sen

issues views needs

Any classification according to a singular identity polarizes people in a particular way, but if we take note of the fact that we have many different identities - related not just to religion but also to language, occupation and business, politics, class and poverty, and many others - we can see that the polarization of one can be resisted by a fuller picture. So knowledge and understanding are extremely important to fight against singular polarization.

Amartya Sen

fighting class knowledge

Globalization can be very unjust and unfair and unequal, but these are matters under our control. Its not that we dont need the market economy. We need it. But the market economy should not have priority or dominance over other institutions.

Amartya Sen

priorities unjust needs

Education makes human beings more articulate. It transforms people. You can think differently about the world. It makes it possible for you to get jobs. It makes a dramatic difference. It generates a social equity that we need.

Amartya Sen

differences jobs thinking

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

Amartya Sen

educational parent teacher

Progress is more plausibly judged by the reduction of deprivation than by the further enrichment of the opulent

Amartya Sen

reduction deprivation progress

Freedoms are not only the primary ends of development, they are also among its principal means.

Amartya Sen

development ends mean

Economics, as it has emerged, can be made more productive by paying greater and more explicit attention to the ethical considerations that shape human behaviour and judgment.

Amartya Sen

challenges attention inspire

Human ordeals thrive on ignorance. To understand a problem with clarity is already half way towards solving it.

Amartya Sen

ignorance half way

Human life depends not only on income but also on social opportunities, [for example] what the state does for educating.

Amartya Sen

example doe opportunity